The recent appointment of Brendan Carr as the head of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) sends a clear message to Big Tech and the regulatory state. Carr, who has served on the FCC since 2017, is known for his strong stance against the ‘censorship cartel’ constituted by Big Tech and the government.
Just days before his appointment, Carr demanded clarification from leading tech CEOs about their affiliations with NewsGuard, a service known for generating blacklists of websites accused of spreading misinformation. These lists are often used by advertising cartels to withhold revenue from sites that question mainstream narratives, such as the effectiveness of COVID lockdowns.
Section 230, the liability shield that allows platforms like Facebook to largely avoid lawsuits, has been called into question by Carr. This protection only holds if Big Tech operates in good faith, which, according to Carr, hasn’t been the case for years. His appointment heralds an anticipated crackdown on tech-enabled censorship, signifying promising news for advocates of free speech.
