FCC chair threatens to pull licenses of broadcasters airing 'distortions' about the Iran war

• FCC Chair Brendan Carr threatened broadcasters' licenses over their coverage of the Iran war.
• He didn't target specific networks, but said any broadcaster publishing "distortions" is at risk.
• His threat came after a Trump post criticizing The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr warned broadcasters Saturday that they could lose their licenses if they air what he described as misleading coverage of the war involving Iran.

In a post on X, Carr said broadcasters spreading inaccurate reporting should "correct course" before coming license renewals.

"Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions — also known as the fake news — have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up," Carr wrote. "The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not."

He did not specify which broadcasters may be at risk.

Carr's comments included a screenshot of a Truth Social post from President Donald Trump accusing major newspapers of misrepresenting developments in the war, which began with US and Israeli strikes on Iranian targets and has since escalated across the region.

Trump wrote that headlines reporting that Iranian strikes had destroyed tanker aircraft at a Saudi base were "intentionally misleading," saying the planes were not destroyed and that most were already back in service. Trump singled out The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, writing that their coverage was "the exact opposite of the actual facts."

The FCC regulates broadcast television and radio stations and grants them licenses to use public airwaves, which must be renewed periodically. The warning reflects a broader pattern of the FCC under Carr taking a more aggressive posture toward broadcasters' content, and comes amid heightened tensions between broadcasters and the FCC over how political content is handled on air.

Since becoming chair during Trump's second term, Carr has repeatedly pointed to the agency's "public interest" standard and a rarely invoked "news distortion" policy as potential tools to scrutinize stations' programming.

Earlier this year, CBS opted not to air a scheduled interview with Texas state Rep. James Talarico on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" after network lawyers warned the appearance could trigger the FCC's "equal time" rule, which requires stations to provide comparable airtime to political candidates. The commission has recently signaled that late-night talk shows may not qualify for a long-assumed exemption to the rule and has also pursued enforcement actions related to a similar interview on ABC's "The View."

Critics, including former FCC officials and lawmakers, have warned that using those authorities to challenge editorial decisions risks pressuring news organizations over their coverage, while Carr has defended the approach as ensuring broadcasters meet their legal obligations.

Carr's warning contrasts with comments he made earlier in his career. In a 2019 post on X, the then-commissioner wrote that "the FCC does not have a roving mandate to police speech in the name of the 'public interest,'" a statement critics have resurfaced as he increasingly invokes that standard to scrutinize broadcasters' programming.