FCC Chair Carr’s broadcast crackdown echoes Roosevelt’s radio control tactics

Brendan Carr, the head of the Federal Communications Commission, recently signaled that the agency will examine local television stations’ choices to change network affiliations, claiming that dominant networks may harm local broadcasting. At the same time, the president has publicly demanded that networks he dislikes lose their broadcast licenses, linking the issue to potential renewal reviews. Historians point out that this mirrors Franklin Roosevelt’s strategy of leveraging radio licenses to silence dissent during the New Deal.

The article also references similar pressure applied by the Biden administration on social-media platforms. Critics argue that using regulatory authority to shape political messaging threatens the public-interest mandate of the FCC.