The Trump regime’s abuse of regulatory powers to extort and censor media companies poses a grave threat to freedom of the press. The case of Paramount's settlement with the president over the baseless 60 Minutes lawsuit provides clear evidence of this disturbing, fascist extortion-industrial complex. Under the leadership of FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, the commission has exploited its authority over broadcasting licenses and merger approvals to force companies like Paramount, NBCUniversal, Disney, and Verizon to acquiesce to the administration's demands.
Paramount was essentially coerced into paying $16 million, airing Trump-friendly ads, appointing a bias ombudsman, and making other concessions to secure merger approval. Carr's weaponization of the FCC's public interest standard and revived content rules like the news distortion policy enables this extortion scheme. He has reimagined these policies far beyond their intended scope to target media companies' editorial decisions and diversity efforts over manufactured controversies.
The regime bolsters the FCC's threats with parallel lawsuits by the president himself. This coordinated campaign of legal harassment and regulatory pressure creates an environment of uncertainty that compels companies to self-censor and compromise journalistic integrity to appease the White House. It is an unacceptable violation of the First Amendment and a direct assault on a free press.
Congress must urgently investigate these abuses of power and take concrete steps to reform the FCC and safeguard freedom of the press from further extortion by stripping the commission of its outdated content-policing authorities. Allowing this extortion-industrial complex to persist unchecked will gravely endanger Americans' access to independent journalism and the free exchange of ideas essential to democracy.
First sent on August 2 by Coleman
