The Incoming FCC Chief Is No ‘Warrior for Free Speech’
President-elect Donald Trump is set to take office next week, and his second-term agenda is taking shape as he fills out his administration. One of the first hires announced after the November election was the elevation of Brendan Carr, who sits on the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), to be the agency’s new head.
Trump dubbed Carr “a warrior for free speech,” and in response, Carr pledged to “dismantle the censorship cartel and restore free speech rights for everyday Americans.” But Carr appears all too willing to wield the federal censorship apparatus on Trump’s behalf.
Over the weekend, Charles Gasparino reported in the New York Post that Carr is unlikely to quickly approve a proposed merger between Paramount Global—the media conglomerate whose assets include the Paramount Pictures film studio as well as the broadcast network CBS and its CBS News division—and Skydance Media, which produced recent hit films like Top Gun: Maverick and entries in the Mission: Impossible series.
“Carr has told them a quick and clean approval is not on the table,” a source told Gasparino, “and all else remains on the table including an eventual approval or a denial.” (An FCC spokesperson did not respond to Reason‘s request for comment by press time.)
Paramount agreed to Skydance’s terms in July 2024, in a deal valued at $8 billion. At the time, the Associated Press reported the merger would provide Paramount, “a legacy studio that has struggled to adapt to a shifting entertainment landscape,” with “desperately needed cash.”
But mergers of that size bring considerable scrutiny from federal agencies.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has broad authority to review mergers and acquisitions by certain private companies, in part to prevent “unfair methods of competition.” The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division also enforces antitrust law in sectors the FTC doesn’t, like the telecommunications industry. Rounding out this regulatory Venn diagram is the FCC, which shares authority with the DOJ to review telecom mergers and acquisitions—but while the DOJ reviews deals through the lens of competition, the FCC examines “whether ‘the public interest, convenience, and necessity’ would be served” by approving the merger.
The proposed merger requires FCC approval since Paramount owns CBS, and broadcast networks are under the agency’s purview. Carr has signaled his intention to slow-walk the process.
“There’s…a news distortion complaint at the FCC still, having to do with CBS, and CBS has a transaction before the FCC,” Carr told Fox News’ Dana Perino in November. “And I’m pretty confident that that news distortion complaint over the CBS 60
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