FCC chairman defends free speech rights after Kirk assassination fuels calls for censorship of online debate

Published September 16, 2025 1:26pm ET



Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr on Tuesday rejected efforts to crack down on online discourse, arguing U.S. citizens are entitled to nearly absolute freedom of speech under the Constitution.

“I think you can draw a pretty clear line, and the Supreme Court has done this for decades, that our First Amendment, our free speech tradition, protects almost all speech,” Carr said during a Politico’s 2025 AI & Tech Summit.

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