TRUMP APPOINTS BRENDAN CARR TO LEAD FCC: Here Are His Policy Priorities (In his Own Words from Project 2025)

Its pretty rare a guy hands you their policy playbook before moving into the role as a senior leader of a federal agency. But that is exactly what happened here, and it is pretty cool.

First, as expected, Brendan Carr was elevated by Trump to Chairman of the FCC over the weekend.

Commissioner Carr is currently the senior Republican Commissioner at the FCC and I think everyone expected this move by Trump, although it came perhaps a bit faster than expected.

I have met with Carr and his staff and have always found them to be thoughtful, professional and very capable. My own personal view is this is a strong move for the Commission (although Commissioner Simington also would have made a fine choice) and the Commission is in capable hands.

Setting aside the Czar’s own views, let’s walk through what this may mean for TCPAWorld.

First, for those of you interested in the impact on the FCC’s new one-to-one rule: Commissioner Carr supported the rule. While that does not necessarily mean he won’t reverse course now that the Republicans will be in charge hopefully this explains why I was quite confidant the rule would still become fully effective despite the change in administration.

 In case you missed my thoughts on the new administration taking over. And you REALLY should subscribe to our YouTube channel if you subscribe to this blog!!!!

But what else can we expect from a Carr-lead Commission?

Well, helpfully, Carr wrote an entire chapter in Project2025 about what he believes should be the priorities of the FCC–and since the Chairman sets the agenda for the Commission–this gives us a pretty good roadmap of what to expect and allows us to make come confident predictions.

Now I did NOT crib the entire chapter–was good, but also long–so if you’re interested in reading everything Carr has to say I recommend you read the full text here: https://static.project2025.org/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf (FCC chapter starts at page 845.)

I guess I should also mention Project2025 is DEFINITELY controversial. My discussing its contents here is not intended to be a political statement. (And I should note, I have read the entire thing–because of course I have–and I actually agree with a ton of it, even if some of it is… not the best thing for America, in my view.)

As one would expect Commissioner Carr’s chapter is thoughtful, measured, and left me thinking  “yeah, we should definitely do that” for about 3/4s of it. In fact, the only place I get a little uneasy is with his views on Section 230, which he acknowledges are views not universally held by conservatives (and much less non-conservatives.)

Enough of that, however, here is what he says:

POLICY PRIORITIES

Per Commissioner Carr “[t]he FCC needs to change course and bring new urgency to achieving four main goals: i) Reining in Big Tech; ii) Promoting national security; iii) Unleashing economic prosperity; and iv) Ensuring FCC accountability and good governance.”

You will notice stopping robocalls and/or preserving lead generation are NOT likely to be priorities for this administration. Then again, reigning in TCR, carrier call blocking and promoting AI outreach might be (read on.)

REGINING IN BIG TECH

Carr advocates strongly for reigning in content moderation by Big Tech. Carr views BigTech as a threat to free speech because of content moderation that may favor one set of viewpoints over the other.

He specifically advocates the new FCC should:

Eliminate immunities that courts added to Section 230

“The FCC’s Section 230 reforms should track the positions outlined in a July 2020 Petition for Rulemaking filed at the FCC near the end of the Trump Administration. Any new presidential Administration should consider filing a similar or new petition.”

Impose transparency rules on Big Tech.

“In acting, the FCC could require these platforms to provide greater specificity regarding their terms of service, and it could hold them accountable by prohibiting actions that are inconsistent with those plain and particular terms. Within this framework, Big Tech should be required to offer a transparent appeals process that allows for the challenging of pretextual takedowns or other actions that violate clear rules of the road.”

Require that Big Tech begin to contribute a fair share

“While Big Tech derives tremendous value from the federal government’s universal service investments—using those federally supported networks to deliver their products and realize significant profits—these large corporations have avoided paying a fair share into the program.”

Again, this is NOT a comprehensive review of his thoughts, just the high points. Please read the whole Project2025 Chapter for more.

Czar’s Takeaways: Again Carr is a dedicated free-speech advocate. I suspect he will find carrier call blocking (especially content-based call blocking) to be a disgusting violation of First Amendment protections and will support R.E.A.C.H.’s upcoming petition seeking to reign it in.

PROTECTING AMERCIA’S NATIONAL SECURITY 

Commissioner Carr is HUGE into the FCC acting to protect national security-particularly from threats posed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP.) In Carr’s view, the FCC should:

Address TikTok’s threat to U.S. national security.

“[A] new Administration should ban the application on national security grounds.”

Expand the FCC’s Covered List.

“[A] new Administration should create a more regular and timely process for reviewing entities with ties to the CCP’s surveillance state.”

End the unregulated end run.

“China Telecom, for instance, continues to provide services to data centers by offering the services on a private or “unregulated” basis. A new Administration should work with the FCC to close this loophole. One way to do so would be for the FCC to prohibit any regulated carrier from interconnecting with an insecure provider.”

Stop aiding the CCP’s authoritarian approach to artificial intelligence.

The CCP has set itself a goal of becoming the global leader in artificial intelligence (AI) by 2030. Beijing is bent on using this technology to exert authoritarian control domestically and export its authoritarian governance model overseas…companies it is time for an Administration to put in place a comprehensive plan that aims to stop U.S. entities from directly or indirectly contributing to China’s malign AI goals.

Again, this is NOT a comprehensive review of his thoughts, just the high points. Please read the whole Project2025 Chapter for more.

Czar’s Takeaways: Chairman Carr should be GREAT for AI development–he understands the need for America to take the lead here and the RISK if other countries develop more freely. He will also be VERY VERY SKEPTICAL of TCR and its foreign ownership.

I have already made my views on TCR very clear.

UNLEASHING ECONOMIC PROSPERITY 

“The FCC needs to advance a pro-growth agenda that gives every American a fair shot at next-generation connectivity. This is vital for economic opportunity and prosperous communities. The current Administration has appropriated a lot of money for broadband infrastructure projects, but it has failed to pair that spending with reforms that free more airwaves for wireless connectivity or streamline the permitting processes for broadband builds. That failure is holding back America’s hardworking telecommunications crews and leaving Americans stuck waiting on the wrong side of the digital divide. It is time for a return to the successful spectrum and infrastructure policies that prevailed during the Trump Administration—policies that enabled the U.S. to lead the world in 5G.

Again, this is NOT a comprehensive review of his thoughts, just the high points. Please read the whole Project2025 Chapter for more.

Czar’s Takeaways: cool.

OVERALL TAKEAWAYS:

1. Commissioner Carr should be great for free speech, reigning in carrier call blocking and ending the insanity of TCR and other campaign registration rules as well as foreign MEF meddling;
2. I suspect we would support a reclassification of SMS as a Title II service (but I don’t know that);
3. I do NOT expect stopping robocalls will be a priority for his Commission, but that does NOT mean he will rollback the one-to-one rule or other anti-robocall measures the Commission has taken;
4. His FCC should be much friendlier to AI and I would expect the views expressed in R.E.A.C.H.’s comment will find favor.

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Chat soon!