Consumer Groups Upset About a Chairman Brendan Carr

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18, 2024 – Consumer advocacy groups that frequently appear before the Federal Communications Commission are not happy with President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to run the agency. 

Brendan Carr, the agency’s senior Republican who’s now set to take the reins in January, wrote the Project 2025 chapter on the FCC. In addition to telecom issues more traditionally in the FCC’s wheelhouse, he outlined plans to reinterpret Section 230, the law that protects internet platforms from liability for their users’ posts, and otherwise target big tech companies, who he has said unfairly target conservative views.

“While there has been much discussion about whether or not the breadth of Section 230 is appropriate, what everyone agrees on is that the authority lies with Congress, not the FCC, to change its scope,” Public Knowledge CEO Chris Lewis, said in a statement. “It’s concerning that the incoming chair believes that the FCC has the authority to change the scope of the plain language of a statute, but not regulate broadband in the interest of consumers.”