The deletion of one word from the Federal Communications Commission’s website is causing a stir on social media and generating backlash from advocacy groups. That word? “Independent.”
On Wednesday, New Mexico’s Democratic U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján pressed FCC Chairman Brendan Carr on the commission’s independence. Luján is the Ranking Member of the Senate’s Commerce Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Media.
During the hearing, Luján displayed images of the FCC’s website, which minutes prior, stated in its mission statement that the FCC is “[a]n independent U.S. government agency.”
In response to Senator Luján, Chairman Carr contradicted previous testimony he has given and the FCC’s mission statement by stating that the FCC is not an independent agency.
Luján: Just so you know, Brendan, on your website it just simply says, man, "the FCC is independent." This isn't a trick question.
Carr: The FCC is not an independent...
Luján: So is your website wrong? Is your website lying?
Carr: Possibly. The FCC is not an independent agency.
Minutes after Senator Luján’s questioning, the FCC edited its website to remove the word “independent.”
Axios reporter Sara Fischer was the first to notice the change, sharing before and after screenshots on her X account.
Luján also pointed the same question at FCC Commissioners Olivia Trusty and Anna M. Gomez. When asked if the FCC is independent, Commissioner Gomez replied, "Yes, and it should be."
Matt Wood, Vice President of the advocacy group Free Press, said that Carr’s claim that President Trump controls the FCC and the removal of the word “independent” from the FCC website amount to “a chilling authoritarian touch.”
Other groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have criticized recent FCC activity including the commission’s handling of the Jimmy Kimmel controversy.
As KSFR reported earlier this week, a conservative advocacy group is urging the FCC to strip NPR and PBS affiliates of their broadcast licenses, arguing the networks no longer fulfill their public-interest obligations.
