FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr has issued a strong rebuke of Big Tech companies, calling for the dismantling of what he describes as a “censorship cartel.” His remarks come amid a shift in media consumption, with social media platforms like Elon Musk’s X seeing record usage while traditional outlets like MSNBC and CNN struggle with plummeting ratings.

Carr, a favorite to chair the FCC in President-elect Donald Trump’s upcoming administration, shared an open letter on X targeting major tech CEOs, including Tim Cook of Apple, Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, Sundar Pichai of Google, and Satya Nadella of Microsoft. In his letter, he accused their platforms of working in concert with organizations like NewsGuard and certain ad agencies to suppress dissenting views and control narratives.

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"FCC's Carr Probes Big Tech 'Censorship Cartel,' NewsGuard"

The senior Republican commissioner on the FCC is demanding that Big Tech companies fess up about their censorship activities targeting conservatives during the Biden years.https://t.co/n4b5RtoIBZ

— House Judiciary GOP 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@JudiciaryGOP) November 14, 2024

“Facebook, Google, Apple, Microsoft & others have played central roles in the censorship cartel,” Carr wrote. He singled out NewsGuard, describing it as “Orwellian” for its efforts to enforce “one-sided narratives” by demonetizing and defunding media outlets that deviate from approved viewpoints.

Carr’s criticism extended to practices exposed through the Twitter Files, highlighting instances where NewsGuard allegedly promoted foreign propaganda over American sources and unfairly penalized reports on controversial topics like the COVID-19 lab leak theory. He also referenced a U.S. House Committee on Small Business report, which criticized NewsGuard for “selecting winners and losers in the news media space.”

The commissioner linked these actions to violations of Section 230 protections, questioning whether NewsGuard’s ratings align with the “good faith” provisions of the law. He also noted that a member of NewsGuard’s advisory board had signed the controversial letter from intelligence officials falsely labeling the Hunter Biden laptop story as Russian disinformation in 2020.

The GOP @gop must stop Big Tech’s targeting, silencing, and demonetization of conservatives. 🔴🔴 Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Brendan Carr on Friday called on big tech platforms to dismantle the “censorship cartel,” charging that American democracy depends on it. Carr… pic.twitter.com/AI4nYmftgk

— 🩸ᑭᗝᗯᗴᖇ ᗪᗝᗯᑎ ᗰᗴᗪᎥᗩ© 🇺🇸 (@MediaZen_24) November 16, 2024

Carr demanded accountability, requesting a comprehensive list from Big Tech companies of all products, services, and third-party partnerships involving NewsGuard or similar fact-checking entities. The deadline for this information is December 10, signaling an aggressive push for transparency.

“The censorship cartel is an affront to Americans’ constitutional freedoms and must be completely dismantled,” Carr wrote. He emphasized that freedom of expression is critical to democracy and called on Americans to reclaim their right to free speech.