FCC Chief Warns Broadcasters Over 'Fake Polls'
Is this unconstitutional censorship or overdue accountability for junk polling?
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Above: Brendan Carr in Grapevine, Texas on March 27. Image credit: Shelby Tauber/Bloomberg/Getty Images
The Facts
- U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr in a social media post Wednesday said that this election season has brought a surge in "entirely Fake Polls and Suppression Polls" and advised broadcasters to avoid "News Distortions" or "Broadcast Hoaxes" that would violate their regulatory obligations.
- Two weeks before the November midterm elections, Carr didn't name any specific polls. FCC spokespeople didn't immediately answer questions about his post.
- This warning came a day after Wedgewood Polls said that it had published fabricated midterm polling results as an experiment to test how media outlets vet surveys. The New York Times said that it had included 15 Wedgewood polls in its database from June to October.
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The Spin
Democratic narrative
Dangling broadcast licenses over poll coverage a regulator dislikes is censorship, and content-based speech threats typically get torched in federal court. Airing public polling data in good faith is journalism, not a hoax, and no license should hinge on whether a poll proved accurate.
Republican narrative
Fabricated polls are no harmless prank. They drain donations, push candidates out of races and warp turnout before a single vote is cast. Broadcasters holding federal licenses owe viewers basic vetting, and amplifying numbers from outfits with no track record or real data falls short.
