Big Tech critic Brendan Carr chosen to lead US comms agency

US President-elect Donald Trump on Nov 17 chose Mr Brendan Carr to be chair of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), nominating a veteran Republican regulator who has publicly agreed with the incoming administration's promises to slash regulation, go after Big Tech and punish TV networks for political bias.

Mr Carr, who currently sits on the commission, is expected to shake up a quiet agency that licenses airwaves for radio and TV, regulates phone costs, and promotes the spread of home internet.

Before the election, Trump indicated he wanted the agency to strip broadcasters such as NBC and CBS of their licensing for unfair coverage.

Mr Carr, 45, was the author of a chapter on the FCC in the conservative Project 2025 planning document, in which he argued that the agency should also regulate the largest tech companies, such as Apple, Meta, Google and Microsoft.

"The censorship cartel must be dismantled," Mr Carr said last week in a post on the social platform X.

Mr Carr could drastically reshape the independent agency, expanding its mandate and wielding it as a political weapon for the right, telecommunications attorneys and analysts said.

They predicted Mr Carr would test the legal limits of the agency's power by pushing to oversee companies such as Meta and Google, setting up a fierce battle with Silicon Valley.