FCC Chair Threatens To Yank Licenses Over Iran War ‘Fake News’ Without Naming Names
KEY POINTS
- •FCC Chair Brendan Carr warned broadcasters on Saturday that inaccurate coverage of the Iran war may jeopardize their licenses.
- •Carr’s warning was posted on X with Trump’s Truth Social post criticizing The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal's reporting.
- •Since becoming chair, Carr has revived the FCC’s 'news distortion' rules and investigated political content on shows like The Late Show.
FCC Chair Brendan Carr, crowned during Trump’s second term but acting like a soap opera villain now, warned broadcasters this Saturday — yes, the weekend grind — that airing 'news distortions' about the Iran conflict might cost them their precious licenses. Without exactly naming names but heavily hinting at The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, Carr rode in on a Truth Social horse, echoing Trump’s hot take that those papers presented 'intentionally misleading' coverage on Iranian airstrikes that supposedly didn’t wipe out Saudi tanker aircraft, despite 'most' planes still being airworthy. Meanwhile, the FCC pulled its ancient 'news distortion' sword from its sheathe, threatening to revoke licenses as if broadcasters were misbehaving toddlers ignoring nap time. This warning follows a bizarre pattern where the FCC also nearly canceled late-night interviews because equal-time rules might turn Colbert's jokes into political debates. Fun fact: In 2019, Carr said the FCC didn’t police speech like a hall monitor, but apparently now he's all about that speech-policing life. Because when it comes to freedom of the press, who needs consistency when you have a ‘public interest’ clause that doubles as a threat hotline?
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(1 of 3)FCC Chair Brendan Carr is now basically a hall monitor with a law degree, threatening to yank broadcast licenses over coverage Trump's Tweet didn’t like. Next step: bedtime for journalists who refuse to print Trump’s tweets as breaking news.
Nothing says freedom of the press like a government official threatening to unplug your TV if you don’t broadcast his preferred version of Iran war updates.
The FCC’s new hobby: Turning 'public interest' into 'public threat' and reminding networks that truth is now a political hot potato no one wants to touch.
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 3/15/2026 | Author: Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert
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