President Donald Trump's Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chairman, Brendan Carr, has announced that broadcasters are henceforth barred from promoting "fake polls" of the kind he claims have circulated in recent weeks.

In a post on X, Carr wrote: "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 said his agency is taking the issue "seriously" because broadcasters are "prohibited by the terms of their federal licenses from engaging in News Distortion or promoting Broadcast Hoaxes."

The FCC is an independent federal agency that licenses over-the-air radio and television stations, which must serve the public interest under the Communications Act; cable channels and online-only outlets do not hold those licenses. Enforcement tools available to the agency include monetary penalties and decisions on whether to renew licenses, which carry eight-year terms. Its news distortion policy dates to a 1969 license-renewal ruling and has been invoked only rarely in the decades since.

The stance marks a stark shift from the previous administration. When President Joe Biden's White House attempted to launch a Disinformation Governance Board to address false information as it pertained to national security, Republicans denounced it as "censorship" and likened it to the "Ministry of Truth" in George Orwell's novel "1984."

"Broadcasters are advised to avoid engaging in News Distortions or running Broadcast Hoaxes by airing Polls that would violate their regulatory obligations," Carr added. "If broadcasters believe they should provide their viewers with additional context and information about Polls they have covered, they can now take those actions consistent with FCC regulations."

Writer Elizabeth Grattan rejected that legal rationale, writing on Bluesky: "Broadcast Hoax literally has NOTHING to do with this and News Distortion is defunct."

According to the U.S. government's electronic Code of Federal Regulations, the rule is a narrow prohibition on knowingly broadcasting "false information concerning a crime or a catastrophe..." It further states that broadcasters cannot air a "broadcast of the information [if it] does in fact directly cause substantial public harm."

"For purposes of this rule, 'public harm' must begin immediately, and cause direct and actual damage to property or to the health or safety of the general public, or diversion of law enforcement or other public health and safety authorities from their duties," the code reads. "The public harm will be deemed foreseeable if the licensee could expect with a significant degree of certainty that public harm would occur. A 'crime' is any act or omission that makes the offender subject to criminal punishment by law. A 'catastrophe' is a disaster or imminent disaster involving violent or sudden event affecting the public."

Some observers suggested Carr may be setting a standard that conservative outlets could eventually trip over. Most polls currently show the president experiencing a significant increase in disapproval, meaning outlets reporting contrary poll results would violate the Trump administration's new rule — while the directive itself lends legitimacy to reporting on Trump's declining popularity.

"So they should definitely stop airing all of Trump's false claims of election rigging?" asked the Law Times Daily.

"Since when has it become illegal to tell the American people the truth? Trump [is] a failed president," said Marie Blanchard, a retired Justice Department employee.

"This is what happens when you put a political operative in a position of responsibility," wrote Jason Gordon.

Another user asked Carr directly: "Did Trump cry to you about the polls? Maybe just tell them what numbers he wants them to use[,] make it easy."

Recent polls published by Fox News have been unflattering to Trump. While the network's opinion division is known for its conservative, pro-Trump lean, its polling has been consistent with independent surveys, as a Los Angeles Times report explained.

Another observer pointed to testimony from former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, who said he paid the tech firm Red Finch Solutions to manipulate online polls in Trump's favor during the 2016 election.

"'If the polls say we are losing, the polls are fake. If we lose the election, the election was rigged,'" wrote attorney and writer Robin DesCamp. "Truly the words of confident and competent civil servants."

NBC News threats reporter Kevin Collier commented: "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. (Sorry to paste from twitter but that's where he posts.)"

Media Matters deputy director of rapid response Andrew Lawrence quipped: "If these are the rules now, then I expect democrats to play by them when they next have power. my expectation is for either safeguards to be put in place to keep this from happening again or for dems to bring fox news and fascist media to heel using these same tactics."

Source: Alternet