House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jamie Raskin of Maryland, other panel Democrats and Free Press co-CEO Craig Aaron used a Wednesday hearing aimed at reviewing instances of claimed Biden administration censorship to lambaste Republican FCC Chairman Brendan Carr for ordering a string of investigations against U.S. broadcasters. The probes, launched since Carr took office Jan. 20, thus far focus on broadcasters that have aired content critical of President Donald Trump or otherwise face claims of pro-Democratic Party bias, though Carr has, in some cases, framed the scrutiny as focused on other matters (see 2502110063). House Judiciary Democrats also sharply criticized X owner Elon Musk for actions on the social media platform that they view as censorship of anti-Trump content.
Expect big changes to BEAD, with the Donald Trump administration and congressional Republicans rewriting the rules and putting more emphasis on efficient use of funding, tech policy experts said Tuesday at the annual State of the Net conference. Consultant Mike O'Rielly, a former FCC commissioner, said NTIA isn't likely to process any state's final proposals in the near term as it awaits where the administration and Congress take BEAD. States must be flexible and ready to pivot once that new direction becomes clear, he added.
The FCC doesn’t have as much power as Chairman Brendan Carr thinks it does and is likely to be corrected by the courts, former FCC Chief Counsel Robert Corn-Revere wrote in a column for the Columbia Journalism Review last week. Framed as a letter to Carr, the column is called “A Plea for Institutional Modesty.” Now chief counsel for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, Corn-Revere served under acting FCC Commissioner James Quello, a moderate Democrat. “If I were your adviser, this is not how I would want history to remember you,” Corn-Revere wrote, calling Carr’s first weeks as chairman “jarring” when compared with his past statements as a commissioner on free speech and the role of the FCC. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the FCC’s rules don’t give it authority over the types of programming broadcasters can offer, Corn-Revere noted. “In 2025, any aggressive action by the FCC to regulate broadcast programming would provide an opportunity to challenge whatever remains of the public interest standard as a reason to treat broadcasters differently from other media,” he said. “FCC meddling in editorial decisions regarding political coverage and news judgment would provide an easy case for limiting the FCC’s authority.” Corn-Revere also wrote that Carr can’t get around the limits on FCC authority by exerting informal pressure on entities or “jawboning.” The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit “is keenly aware that the FCC can abuse its authority in this way and has limited ‘raised eyebrow’ tactics in past cases,” he said, adding that SCOTUS has also recently reaffirmed that government officials violate the First Amendment by using threats to restrict speech. “Bottom line, given your position, writing threatening letters may be enough to get you into constitutional hot water.” Governmental officials “who have tried to use their power to muzzle the press for short-term political gain have not been treated well by history.” You swore an oath "to uphold the Constitution and laws of the United States, and you know very well how these things work. You might at least consider not actively reinforcing uninformed social media rants.” The FCC didn’t comment.
Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, acknowledged Wednesday that newly announced NTIA administrator nominee Arielle Roth may draw panel Democrats’ ire during her confirmation process over potential changes from the Trump administration and Congress to the $42.5 billion NTIA-administered BEAD program. Senate Commerce advanced commerce secretary nominee Howard Lutnick to the floor 16-12 Wednesday, as expected (see 2502040056), against near-uniform Democratic opposition aimed in part at his positions on BEAD. The panel also cleared a revised version of the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (S-315) and three other tech and telecom bills: the Rural Broadband Protection Act (S-98), Insure Cybersecurity Act (S-245) and Kids Off Social Media Act (S-278).
Law professor Adam Candeub, who was an attorney in the FCC's Media and Common Carrier bureaus as well as acting NTIA head, is returning to the commission as general counsel. Candeub brings with him strong criticisms of Big Tech. In response to a post on X about Candeub not being the GC that Big Tech executives would have preferred, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr replied that the agency "will work to dismantle the censorship cartel and restore free speech rights to everyday Americans." He added: "I look forward to Adam Candeub serving as the FCC's General Counsel. He is going to do great things!"
The Senate Commerce Committee said Wednesday night it plans to vote Feb. 5 on commerce secretary nominee Howard Lutnick, the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act (S-315) and three other tech and telecom bills. Lutnick drew criticism from several Senate Commerce Democrats during his Wednesday confirmation hearing after he wouldn’t commit to maintaining NTIA’s approval of some states’ BEAD plans or defy orders by President Donald Trump to withhold program funding (see 2501290047). Committee ranking member Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., also criticized Lutnick in a Wednesday night statement, though for unrelated reasons. Senate Commerce’s planned vote on S-315 would come a week after Chairman Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., refiled it. The bill, which the House Commerce Committee advanced last year, would require the Department of Transportation to mandate AM radio's inclusion in future automobiles (see 2409180047), mostly affecting electric vehicles. Also on Senate Commerce’s agenda: the Rural Broadband Protection Act (S-98), Insure Cybersecurity Act (S-245) and Kids Off Social Media Act (S-278). The meeting will begin at 10 a.m. in 253 Russell.
The Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) isn't likely to make much headway with the 119th Congress absent a major revamp, tech policy panelists said Wednesday at a Congressional Internet Caucus event, which also featured some panelists disagreeing on the FCC's role in cybersecurity enforcement.
A unanimous U.S. Supreme Court on Friday upheld a law requiring ByteDance to divest TikTok, citing Congress’ “well-supported national security concerns.”
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen (R) expects bipartisan support for a forthcoming bill restricting cellphones in schools. The governor and Attorney General Mike Hilgers (R) announced support for that and other kids’ tech bills during a livestreamed press conference Monday. "Social media and cellphones in the hands of young people are fueling a mental health crisis in our state,” said state Sen. Rita Sanders (R), adding that phone usage correlates with lower test scores. The senator’s bill would direct Nebraska’s education department to develop a policy for limiting phone usage in schools.
The full FCC approved five notices of apparent liability against pirate broadcasters proposing a total of $260,000 in penalties, according to NALs in Thursday’s Daily Digest. The NALs were approved 4-1, with Commissioner Nathan Simington dissenting. Simington has said he will dissent from all proceedings involving monetary forfeitures until the FCC responds to the U.S. Supreme Court’s SEC v. Jarkesy decision (see 2409060054). The agency proposed penalties of $60,000 for Carlos Alberto Vazquez of Painesville, Ohio; for Wilfredo Ayala of Hartford, Connecticut; and for Sheldon Morgan of Hartford and his company, Morgan Media. The FCC proposed $40,000 penalties each for James Baran of Geneva-on-the-Lake, Ohio, and Efrain Gonzalez of Waterbury, Connecticut. All the targets are connected with addresses where Enforcement Bureau field agents measured unauthorized radio broadcasts, and several of the pirate operators posted to social media platforms of videos themselves operating their stations, the NALs said.