Sen. Cantwell Asks the Important Question at Opening of Committee Hearing on Government Censorship: Where is Chairman Carr

[VIDEO]

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, asked aloud at today's hearing on government censorship, "Where is Chairman Carr?" Sen. Cantwell and Democrats called for Brendan Carr, Chair of the Federal Communications Committee (FCC), to testify before the Commerce Committee after he threatened regulatory action against ABC and its affiliates if they did not suspend comedian Jimmy Kimmel, resulting in his immediate suspension from the air.

Sen. Cantwell's full opening remarks:

"These issues of the media and consumers and free speech, very important issues for us to discuss. In an era where consumers are paying more, where not enough competition exists, where deals are getting done that lead to fewer choices, less local news, I do have an important question: Where is Chairman Carr?

"Americans are paying and spending more money on content that used to be free, more than ever before. And just a few weeks ago, we witnessed a deeply troubling episode The FCC Chairman demanding ABC take immediate action against Jimmy Kimmel for tasteless remarks and saying, 'We can do this the easy way or the hard way,' a line that Senator Cruz rightly criticized as something 'right out of Goodfellas.'

"Within hours, the nation's largest ABC affiliates, Nexstar and Sinclair, announced they would preempt the show indefinitely, and shortly thereafter, ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! altogether. While ABC, Nexstar and Sinclair have since returned Mr. Kimmel to the air, that chain of events should alarm every American. Because the power of the FCC was never meant to weaponize against a president or political targets. Let me be clear. Chairman Carr does not have the authority to police speech that he or the White House finds offensive. He does not have the authority to threaten licensees based on content decisions, and this is especially true when those same companies have mergers and licenses pending before the FCC.

"That is exactly the kind of political interference, chilling effect on free speech that the First Amendment was designed to prevent. We need to hold Chairman Carr accountable for these threats, and that's why I've called on us to have a hearing. And hopefully that will happen sometime in the near future. There is a need to have oversight on this and I hope that this hearing does happen without further delay.

"Professor Volokh…said in his testimony: 'FCC Chairman Brendan Carr's statement about Jimmy Kimmel may likewise have threatened retaliation in a way that would violate the First Amendment.' So the point on this -- there is broad agreement -- free expression is not a partisan issue. It is the bedrock of our democracy.

"So, this is in a long list of issues about the First Amendment I think the President is making pretty much a standard issue. Just last week, the Federal Court found that the administration violated the First Amendment by arresting, detaining and deporting non-citizen students and faculty members for their pro-Palestinian advocacy. This follows the White House revocation of the Associated Press' credentials for refusal to use the term 'Gulf of [America],' clearly an attempt to police the language and intimidate free speech.

"Meanwhile, the administration continues to wield the full power of the federal government to retaliate against law firms the President doesn't like and threaten funding for universities he disfavors. It is alarming to see the administration use its regulatory and informal authority to unlawfully infringe on free speech, the free press and the First Amendment. And it's important that we also understand the broader context here.

"That is why, Mr. Kimmelman, I'm so glad to see you here today. Local journalism in America is already under extraordinary strain. The Commerce Committee has documented how online platforms monopolize advertising, siphon revenue away from local newspapers and broadcasters, and the result has been newsroom closures, layoffs across the country…even as the public trust in local journalism remains at an all time high. At the same time, media consolidation has been concentrated into fewer hands. Since 2005, the U.S. has lost almost 1/3 of its newspapers. This year alone, 127 newspapers closed, nearly 55 million Americans have limited or no access to local news, disproportionately affecting rural areas. That leaves news outlets more vulnerable to political and corporate pressures and leaves the public without further resources of getting to true competition, which I believe gets us to the truth.

"If Chairman Carr can threaten one network over a single late-night host and his message, what kind of message does that send to local broadcasters in Seattle or Houston? Do they lose their license if they're reporting or they're crossing the White House? This kind of intimidation undermines the very foundation of the free press. I want to be clear, protecting a free press does not mean ignoring the dangers of harmful hate speech. I've expressed concerns about companies like Facebook, Google and X on issues that really did threaten the lives of individuals, and I know that we will hear a lot about what the Biden administration did in these areas.

"But let's not forget, the Supreme Court rejected allegations of the Biden administration censorship because the record showed that social media companies, 'Continued to exercise their independent judgment' and had 'independent incentives to moderate content.' I'm sure we'll talk a lot about this. Persuading companies to enforce their own content moderation policies is not the same, is not the same as threatening them with retaliation. And that is precisely what Chairman Carr did when he publicly threatened ABC, an entity over which the FCC holds direct regulatory power to take action over the speech the administration did not like. Holding companies accountable for amplifying harm is not the same as expressing constitutional protected speech the President finds politically inconvenient.

"That is what we should be focusing on today, making sure the FCC, as a federal agency, cannot use its authority to threaten or intimidate the media to ensure the license decisions are based on the law and not on political coercion. I hope today we can speak clearly about this and do what we can to make sure that we show that free speech is something we all agree on."

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