A Warning From the Inside
An FCC commissioner raises first amendment fears
A sitting FCC commissioner is warning that the agency is being hijacked: used not to regulate media fairly, but to punish political enemies and intimidate journalists.
And she’s saying it publicly.
In a wide-ranging interview with Status journalist Oliver Darcy, Democratic FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez says the commission is being “weaponized” under Republican Commissioner Brendan Carr, a Trump ally. Gomez accuses Carr of turning the FCC into a political sledgehammer by reviving baseless complaints against broadcasters whose coverage the Trump administration doesn’t like and pressuring companies through politically motivated investigations.
Many believe this is a direct threat to the First Amendment. And Gomez says it’s already working. She’s heard from broadcasters who are telling their reporters to tone down coverage of the Trump administration.
“The FCC is meant to be an independent, expert-driven body,” Gomez said. “Not a tool to settle personal grievances.”
Among the flashpoints is the investigation into CBS’s “60 Minutes” after an interview with Vice President Harris, an investigation Carr has denied is connected to the pending Paramount-Skydance merger. But Gomez isn’t buying it. She calls the probe “censorship by another name” and says it's meant to coerce media companies into silence.
She also reminds us that these tactics aren’t limited to one party or one moment. The damage to the FCC’s independence, she warns, could linger no matter who holds power next.
So, she’s launched a First Amendment Tour, a national campaign urging journalists and news outlets not to self-censor, and to call out what’s happening before it becomes the new normal. She says she’s received bipartisan support, even from people she never expected to agree with. Because, for all our political differences, most Americans still believe in free speech. At least for now.
But that belief only matters if we act on it.
Gomez’s full interview with Status is worth your time. It’s candid, clear, and chilling.
🔗 Read it here and follow Oliver Darcy’s work at https://www.status.news. Subscribe while you’re at it—he’s doing some of the most important media reporting in the country right now.