Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr sent shivers across social media by warning that broadcast networks could be breaking federal rules by airing what he called “entirely fake polls and suppression polls.”
In a post on X, Carr claimed there has been a significant surge in such polls ahead of the November midterms, saying they are “designed to do nothing more than interfere with the regular functioning of the electoral process and alter the normal patterns of voter turnout and enthusiasm.”
"Many journalists and broadcasters have been amplifying or airing these Polls without regard to basic journalistic ethics and without informing the public that those Polls lack a scientific, accurate, or even real basis," Carr posted. "The FCC takes these issues seriously. Broadcasters are prohibited by the terms of their federal licenses from engaging in News Distortion or promoting Broadcast Hoaxes."
"It is important that broadcasters comply with their public interest obligations," he continued. "After all, the country benefits greatly when Americans can trust and rely on the media to report the news fairly and accurately. Broadcasters are advised to avoid engaging in News Distortions or running Broadcast Hoaxes by airing Polls that would violate their regulatory obligations."
"If broadcasters believe they should provide their viewers with additional context and information about Polls they have covered," Carr added, "they can now take those actions consistent with FCC regulations."
President Donald Trump has pressured Carr to crack down on broadcasters and journalists since the start of his tenure leading the agency, and the FCC chair's warning comes as the president's approval rating slips to all-time lows as voters head to the polls.
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez, the agency’s lone Democrat, has rejected Carr's reading of the rules. Speaking last month, she said a violation would require “a deliberate misrepresentation of something of significant importance.”
A poll that simply turns out to be wrong, Gomez said, is “not something that I would say fits within the news distortion policy.”
Carr's threat against broadcasters alarmed journalists and others on social media.
"In any other admin, this would probably be the most outrageous official statement ever made by a sitting FCC director: Strongly implying that the government forbids broadcast networks from reporting on the president's falling poll numbers," stated NBC News correspondent Kevin Collier.
"The head of the FCC (presumably in the process of changing its name to the Ministry of Truth) would like to remind you that we no longer have free speech here in the US(SR), and you should not report any information that might upset Dear Leader," sneered law professor Mark Lemley.
"Carr is stretching specific regulations far beyond their legal definitions and the FCC can't mandate how a broadcaster contextualizes a poll," argued veteran journalist Steve Herman. "The FCC threatening broadcasters for airing specific political data is a chilling content-based restriction on speech, which federal courts subject to extreme judicial review and the commission would almost certainly lose such cases, according to First Amendment scholars."
"Saying the polls are fake a necessary step to insisting the election results are fake," pointed out policy professor Don Moynihan.