Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr on Wednesday defended the FCC’s authority to regulate television stations based on whether they serve the public interest, in the face of senators’ questions on free speech and media competition.
He made his defense before the Senate Commerce Committee, where he appeared with Commissioners Anna M. Gomez and Olivia Trusty. The appearance comes some three months after controversial comments about late night host Jimmy Kimmel that seemed to threaten broadcast licenses for stations that continued to air his show after he joked on-air about the reaction to conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s death.
Committee Democrats questioned those comments and Carr’s commitment to free speech.
