FCC’s Brendan Carr Is Turning FCC Into State Censorship Bureau
WASHINGTON - The Open Markets Institute and the Center for Journalism and Liberty at Open Markets released the following statement condemning the Federal Communications Commission’s politically motivated decision to order Disney, ABC and their television subsidiaries to file early license renewal applications – a move which comes as the White House once again calls for late-night host Jimmy Kimmel to be fired.
The FCC’s lone Democratic Commissioner Anna Gomez has said, “this is the most egregious action this FCC has taken in violation of the First Amendment to date” and comes as part of an “ongoing campaign of censorship and control.” We agree.
“This is a nakedly corrupt and authoritarian abuse of state power designed to punish political enemies and send a chilling effect through newsrooms and boardrooms across the country,” said Dr. Courtney Radsch, Director of the Center for Journalism and Liberty at Open Markets. “This effort to turn broadcast licenses into loyalty oaths is truly breathtaking hypocrisy from a movement that claimed to champion free speech but is now turning the FCC into a state censorship bureau.”
“Champions of liberty and democracy must speak out. This is part of a broader effort to turn federal agencies into instruments of political patronage – where favorable coverage and political donations are rewarded with merger approvals and sweetheart deals, while resistance is met with the weaponization of government power at every level."
The Open Markets Institute and the Center for Journalism and Liberty at Open Markets have been vigilant in publicizing Trump administration attempts to censor the news media as well as to corrupt antitrust and merger enforcement for their own political gains. See:
Open Markets Executive Director Barry Lynn Responds to Disney ABC’s Decision to Pull Kimmel (Sept 2025)
After Cutting Kimmel, Nexstar Asks Trump to Greenlight Illegal Merger (Nov 2025)
Paramount-Skydance Deal Subverts Free Speech and the Free Press in America (July 2025)
OMI Reacts to Paramount-Warner Bros. Discovery Deal & Trump’s Apparent Interference (Feb 2026)
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The Open Markets Institute is a transatlantic team of journalists, researchers, lawyers, economists, and advocates working together to expose and reverse the stranglehold that corporate monopolies have on society. Learn more at www.openmarketsinstitute.org and https://www.journalismliberty.org/.