FCC Chairman Brendan Carr threatens broadcasters over Iran war coverage
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has warned broadcasters they could lose their licenses over their coverage of the Iran war, following President Donald Trump’s claims of misleading coverage.
- In response to President Trump’s criticism of coverage of the Iran war, Kerr wrote in an X post on March 14 that the station “has a chance to correct course before license renewal arrives.”
- Experts said it is rare for a station to have its FCC license revoked, and it would be unprecedented for a station to be disqualified in response to what is described as a partisan effort.
- Mr. Kerr’s post stands in stark contrast to his previous statements. These include a 2019 X post in which Kerr said, “Authorities do not have the authority to police speech in the name of ‘public interest.’
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr is again calling on broadcasters to notify them.
This time, Carr focuses on media coverage of the Iran war and conflict.
In response to President Donald Trump’s Truth Social statement criticizing U.S. coverage of the Iran war, Kerr said, “Broadcast stations that spread misinformation and news distortions, also known as fake news, have an opportunity to correct course before their licenses come up for renewal.”
“The law is clear: broadcasters must operate in the public interest. If they don’t, their licenses will be revoked,” Kerr wrote in a post on X.
Trump later said in a March 15 post on Truth Social that he was “excited” about Carr’s efforts.
Can Kerr and the FCC actually revoke the licenses of stations they don’t like?
Robert Cohn Revere, principal counsel at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, said it is “extremely rare” for a broadcast station to lose its FCC license. He said that the FCC chairman’s distrust of certain news reports is “not an acceptable reason to revoke a license.”
In an interview with USA TODAY, Cohn Revere and other experts said both the First Amendment and the Communications Act of 1934 support potential attempts to revoke a broadcast station’s license.
USA TODAY has reached out to the FCC for comment.
‘Politically motivated’ license revocation is unprecedented
Although the FCC has limited authority to revoke broadcast licenses, experts said it is unprecedented for licenses to be revoked for the partisan reasons that Kerr alleges.
David Keating, president of the Free Speech Institute, compared Carr’s efforts to efforts by the Parents Television Council in the early 2000s to revoke FCC licenses for obscenity, calling both “politically motivated.”
Keating pointed out that even when NBC rigged crash tests as part of a segment on General Motors’ gas tanks in the 1990s, the FCC only sent the agency a warning.
Cornrevere said he was not aware of any other instances in which the FCC had used license renewals “for such blatant political excuses.”
According to the FCC’s website, television broadcast licenses in Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia will expire on October 1, 2028. Broadcast radio licenses within the same jurisdiction will expire on October 1, 2027.
Adverse False Speech Is Still Protected by the First Amendment
Carr has invoked policies related to news distortion and public interest standards that FCC licensees must follow, both in his X-Post and elsewhere, including at a Senate committee hearing in December.
Jenna Leventov, senior policy adviser at the American Civil Liberties Union, said Kerr’s comments reflect a “serious misunderstanding” of the law and a departure from the way the FCC has operated in the past.
“The FCC can’t stop speech just because it doesn’t like it or doesn’t think it’s true,” she said.
The FCC itself made a similar statement in 2020 when it denied a request to investigate a broadcast station that aired what appeared to be false statements by President Trump during the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the time, the commission said it “does not, cannot and will not serve as the self-appointed, free-roaming arbiter of truth in journalism.”
Leventov pointed out, as the FCC also did in 2020, that the right to free speech does not only apply to truthful speech.
“Even if the speech was false, the First Amendment would protect it,” Leventov said.
Kerr’s efforts contrast with previous statements
Carr’s statement came a month after an interview with Democratic Texas Rep. James Talarico on “The View” in which he announced “enforcement action underway” against ABC in line with the FCC’s Equal Time Rule.
The equal time rule does not require networks to actively provide airtime opportunities to all candidates in a particular election. Rather, we are required to provide such an opportunity if a legally qualified opponent requests it.
Democratic Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s campaign previously told USA TODAY that it did not request equal time from ABC during the Texas Senate primary.
Stephen Colbert told viewers in February that CBS had decided not to air his interview with Talarico because of equal time requirements, but the network dismissed his comments, insisting the show was merely providing “legal guidance.” Instead, the interview was posted on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” YouTube channel. The FCC does not have jurisdiction over content posted to YouTube.
In 2025, Kerr also made statements that were interpreted as a threat to revoke ABC’s license if Jimmy Kimmel was not fired for his on-air comments about Charlie Kirk’s assassination.
These efforts stand in contrast to Mr. Kerr’s statements over the past few years.
For example, during the Trump administration in February 2019, Carr said the government should not censor speech it opposes.
“The FCC does not have the power to compel it to police speech in the name of the ‘public interest,'” Kerr wrote to X.
Keating called Kerr’s March
“I hope these stations don’t fall for it.”
Leventov reiterated a previous statement to USA TODAY, saying Kerr’s latest efforts could have a chilling effect on the station, even if its license is not revoked.
“I think he wants broadcasters to think before they say something and think, “Will President Trump like what I’m about to say?” (and) if not, choose not to say it,” she said.
The ACLU wants to avoid that outcome.
“I hope these stations don’t fall for it,” she said. “We hope they will continue to speak and share the news as they wish.”
Experts agreed that the law is on a broadcaster’s side when a license is revoked based on reporting on an international conflict, but noted that legal proceedings could be time-consuming and costly.
“The process is the punishment,” Keating said.
Mr. Cornrevere said that if Mr. Carr took action that could be reviewed in court, he would be “quickly embarrassed by the consequences.”
“I really expect this to be nothing more than a few angry tweets,” he said.
Breanna Frank is USA TODAY’s First Amendment reporter. please contact her bjfrank@usatoday.com.
USA TODAY’s coverage of First Amendment issues is funded by the Freedom Forum in collaboration with our journalism funding partners. Funder does not provide editorial opiniont.
