Trump’s FCC Pick Hints at Massive Changes for US Big Techs

Trump’s FCC pick Brendan Carr has said that US big techs may have to identify strategies for defending themselves against the incoming Federal Communications Commission. According to Yahoo Finance, Carr said this soon after the president-elect announced him as the upcoming chair of the FCC last month.

Eliminating Censorship Cartel

Trump’s FCC lead said that eliminating censorship cartels will be his top priority. This will ensure that free speech is protected across social media platforms and beyond.

“We must dismantle the censorship cartel and restore free speech rights for everyday Americans. They are not simply prevailing in the free market; they are taking advantage of a landscape that has been skewed—in many cases by the government—to favor their business models,” Carr posted on X.

According to Carr, the remedy is to do away with legal immunity under Section 230 that insulates big techs from liability whenever they regulate third party content. Carr says dominant tech companies abuse their market position.

“Today, a handful of corporations can shape everything from the information we consume to the places we shop. They are not simply prevailing in the free market; they are taking advantage of a landscape that has been skewed—in many cases by the government—to favor their business models.” He wrote in a chapter on the FCC.

There is a need to also impose transparency rules, similar to those that broadband providers are subjected to. With these changes, social media platforms will have to publish more detailed terms of service. Additionally, the platforms will have to establish an appeals process for users to challenge them whenever they pull their posts down.

Impact on Net Neutrality

Carr’s proposals have not gone unchallenged. Fight for the Future, a lobby group that supports online privacy has raised concerns that Carr’s ideas will upend internet neutrality rules. These rules require internet service providers to treat all the content published online equally. In 2017, the upcoming FCC chairperson voted against neutrality rules.

In Project 2025, Carr said that the FCC needed to do more to guard American citizens against existing personal and national security threats.

These threats emanate from social media platform TikTok, and telecommunication equipment makers, ZTE and Huawei. Carr said TikTok gives the Chinese government a chance to run a foreign influence campaign. He said they do this by curating the information and news that millions of US citizens view.

Big Tech’s Service Fund Charge

Trump’s FCC select chair says that US big techs must pay their fair share into the communication agency’s $9 billion universal service fund. The fund is used to subsidize internet costs to facilitate affordable access and support rural connectivity programs.

As it is now, the fund relies on telco consumers for the bulk of its funding. Carr wants to change this. According to him, big techs should support the fund because they use networks that are supported by the federal government to deliver their products and services to customers.

TikTok’s Divest or Ban Law

Earlier this year, President Biden and Congress agreed to ban TikTok from operating in the US under Chinese ownership through the divest or ban law. On the campaign trail, Trump suggested that he could reduce the impact of this law. Biden signed the divest or ban bill into law in April 2024. Under this law, Chinese ownership of TikTok is illegal.

Under Trump’s leadership, the FCC is expected to update the list of covered telecommunication equipment makers that pose national security. Carr says the agency should focus on closing all loopholes to ensure that companies such as China Telecom cannot run unregulated data centers within the US.