Trump picks Big Tech critic Brendan Carr to lead FCC
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Donald Trump has picked Brendan Carr – an outspoken critic of Big Tech, federal broadband infrastructure funding and alleged political bias by broadcasters – to be the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission.
Carr is currently the senior Republican on the FCC and authored a chapter on the telecom regulator in the Project 2025 planning document, in which he said the agency must rein in Big Tech.
“Carr is a warrior for free speech, and has fought against the regulatory lawfare that has stifled Americans’ freedoms,” Trump declared. “He will end the regulatory onslaught that has been crippling America’s job creators and innovators, and ensure that the FCC delivers for rural America.”
In a recent letter to CEOs of Meta (META), Alphabet (GOOG) (GOOGL), Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT), Carr claimed the companies “played central roles in the censorship cartel” that silenced people for exercising their First Amendment rights.
Carr has also criticized the FCC’s decision not to reinstate nearly $900M in subsidies for Elon Musk-owned satellite internet provider Starlink, and claimed the Biden administration has yet to follow through on its $42.45B program to expand high-speed internet access (particularly in rural areas).
He also opposed the FCC’s decision to reinstate net neutrality rules, and pledged to end the FCC’s promotion of diversity, equity and inclusion starting next year.