The head of the US Communications Commission threatens to withdraw broadcast stations’ licenses due to coverage of the Iran war

The head of the US Federal Communications Commission, Brendan Carr, renewed his criticism and threats to broadcasters because of their content and “fake news,” and threatened to withdraw their licenses if they did not adhere to the public interest, taking advantage this time of US President Donald Trump’s criticism to cover the war with Iran, according to NBC News.

Carr said, in a post on the “X” platform, that broadcast stations that publish “fake news” must “correct their course before the date of renewing their licenses,” accompanying his comments with a picture of a tweet that Trump posted earlier the same day on the “Truth Social” platform.

In his post, Trump accused the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and other newspapers and media of providing “very bad coverage” of the war that the United States and Israel are waging against Iran, as he described it.

“Broadcast stations must act in the public interest, or they will lose their licenses,” Carr wrote.

Commitment to the “public interest”

The Federal Communications Commission grants licenses to television and radio broadcasting stations, but it does not grant licenses to television or radio networks or to other parties that have relationships with those stations, unless they obtain a license themselves.

The Authority also does not regulate media outlets whose distribution is limited to the Internet or print editions, such as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

Carr has repeatedly said that he seeks to impose a “public interest” obligation on broadcasters using the public airwaves, which he believes the authority has failed to implement adequately for decades.

He wrote in his post about “hoaxes and distortions” during the 2024 presidential campaign, noting that “the public has lost its trust and faith in the media.” By including Trump’s post, Carr, for the first time, broadened the scope of his criticism to include wartime media coverage.

Trump often accuses news media of “lying” when they publish reports he considers critical of him, and he has previously called for revoking the licenses of broadcasters he finds unfair.