This is the Cater Daily podcast for Friday, November 22nd, 2024. I'm Caleb Brown.

Current FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr will head the commission in the pending second Trump administration, given Trump's threats against companies like ABC for how he was treated by debate moderators

and his distaste for a Google news search results of his own name, what might we expect from

Carr, who has already placed Google squarely within what he calls a censorship cartel.

I spoke yesterday with Cato's Jennifer Huddleston and Brent Scorum.

In 2019, Brendan Carr, who was then an FCC commissioner, appeared on the Cato Daily podcast,

and we talked about the FCC's public interest mandate. And the question was really whether or not

that mandate extended to cover things like cigarette

advertising, whether or not cigarette advertising was so clearly not a matter for public interest

that they could be banned. And he said he stood on the side of the First Amendment.

And so I wonder when you hear Brendan Carr, the person who we presume will be the next head of the Federal Communications Commission,

when he talks about Google, Facebook, and others as being part of essentially a censorship regime.

How does that align with his views on what the FCC's role is and whether or not really the FCC has any business stepping into what these big speech platforms are delivering.

You know, I should say, I've met Brendan a couple of times. He was kind enough to record a podcast

and interview with me a few years ago about his efforts to improve broadband and 5G throughout the nation.

And I should add, as you know, Caleb, on the biggest issue of the prior 20 years for the FCC,

which is net neutrality, should the FCC have broad authority to regulate the mass medium of the age, which is broadband internet,

he is quite good.

When you say quite good, can you spell that out just a little bit?

Well, there's been a 20-year effort ever since net neutrality was coined.

And I would say this movement to regulate broadband internet,

I think you'd find its roots directly in what was called the media access movement

...