New FCC Chair Revives Complaints About ABC, CBS And NBC Content That His Predecessor Rejected As “At Odds With The First Amendment”

Brendan Carr, newly installed as chairman of the FCC under the new Trump administration, is reviving a trio of complaints aimed at NBC, ABC and CBS content, ones that his predecessor dismissed for being “at odds with the First Amendment.”

The revived complaints come from the conservative Center for American Rights and generally align with Trump’s gripes about media coverage during the 2024 presidential campaign.

The complaints include one against ABC’s Philadelphia affiliate, WPVI-TV, alleging bias in ABC’s hosting of the September presidential debate; one against WCBS-TV in New York that accuses CBS of “news distortion” in the way that 60 Minutes edited an interview with Kamala Harris; and another against WNBC-TV in New York for alleged violations of the equal time rule when Saturday Night Live featured Harris in a cameo the weekend before the presidential election.

Just last week, before she resigned, FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, appointed by President Joe Biden, dismissed the three complaints, as well as another one filed by the Media and Democracy Project, which challenged the license of Fox-owned WTXF-TV in Philadelphia. That complaint alleged that the revelations from the Dominion Voting System defamation case against Fox News showed that Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch lacked the “character” to hold a broadcast license.

Carr’s order, however, does not revive the Fox complaint.

In restoring the complaints today, the FCC said that the dismissals were “issued prematurely” and “based on an insufficient investigatory record for the station-specific conduct at issue.” The agency said that the complaints require “further consideration.”

In her statement last week dismissing the complaints, Rosenworcel said, “The facts and legal circumstances in each of these cases are different. But what they share is that they seek to weaponize the licensing authority of the FCC in a way that is fundamentally at odds with the First Amendment. To do so would set a dangerous precedent.” She also warned that the agency “should not be the president’s speech police.”

When he took office on Monday, Trump signed an executive order on “restoring freedom of speech and ending federal censorship.” Among other things, it says that “no taxpayer resources are used to engage in or facilitate any conduct that would unconstitutionally abridge the free speech of any American citizen.” The order, though, calls out the Biden administration for “exerting substantial coercive pressure” on social media companies over their content moderation practices.

But as recently as earlier this month, Trump has threatened major media companies over content that he does not like. He warned that Comcast should “pay a big price,” as he was irate over something said by NBC’s late night host Seth Meyers.

Newsmax first reported on the restored complaints.