President-elect Donald Trump said Sunday that he plans to nominate Brendan Carr to be chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. Carr, an FCC commissioner since 2017, has made a name for himself by threatening to use the commission’s powers to regulate speech online and over the airwaves.
Carr wrote the FCC section of Project 2025, proposing restrictions on social media platforms aimed at strengthening conservative speech. He proposed restricting legal protections that give websites broad freedom to host and moderate user-generated content. He also proposed imposing regulations on technology companies that would limit their ability to freely block or prioritize this content.
In the run-up to the election, Carr has threatened to use the power of the Commission to punish companies for speech he doesn’t like. Just this month, he considered stripping NBC of its broadcast license following Kamala Harris’ appearance on SNL. As a commissioner, he voted to repeal net neutrality rules in 2017, then voted against restoring net neutrality earlier this year.
In a highly ambiguous statement, President Trump said Carr would “put an end to the regulatory onslaught that is paralyzing America’s job creators and innovators.” He also said Carr would “ensure that the FCC serves rural America.”
