What We Sought
Since he took office in January, Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) Chair Brendan Carr has used public pressure and leverage by threatening to use his agency’s licensing and enforcement powers to police and limit speech and influence what the public can watch and hear.
In September, Carr threatened ABC and Disney, stating on a podcast: “Frankly, when you see stuff like this — I mean, we can do this the easy way or the hard way…These companies can find ways to change conduct and take action, frankly, on Kimmel, or there’s going to be additional work for the FCC ahead”; following this threat, Disney and ABC pulled Kimmel’s program off the air. Carr, who influences the federal government’s granting of broadcast licenses to local televisions stations, in the same podcast interview also encouraged local stations to “push back” and pre-empt coverage not serving “local communities”–prompting Nexstar and Sinclair to pull Mr. Kimmel’s show. Earlier in the year, Carr pushed telecom giants Verizon and T-Mobile to jettison DEI programs as they pursued approvals for mergers. He also appears to have extracted a settlement and payment to Trump as he negotiated Skydance’s merger with Paramount.
Our FOIA requests seek to shed light on Carr’s activities and use of leverage as he uses his powerful agency to spar with media companies and threaten free speech, reshaping the role of the FCC in controlling broadcast content. We are seeking Carr’s calendars, text messages, communications regarding a range of companies and mergers, communications with external entities that may be exerting undue influence on agency decisionmaking, and communications with the White House.
What We Received
We will provide updates to this page as we receive information.
