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Federal Communications Commission

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Federal Communications Commission
Chair:Brendan Carr
Year created:1934
Official website:Office website

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is a United States executive agency formed in 1934 which, according to its official website, "regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories."[1] The chair of the commission is Jessica Rosenworcel as of February 2024.

History

Founded in 1934 by the Communications Act, the FCC took over radio licensing from the Federal Radio Commission. In 1940, the commission released a report that led to the breakup of the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), eventually leading to the formation of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC). The Report on Chain Broadcasting also placed restrictions on what the networks could demand from local affiliate stations in regard to scheduling programming. When television became a new medium in the 1940s, the FCC took on the role of licensing those stations as well. The FCC also regulates what it considers to be obscenity and indecency in television and radio programming.[2]

In 2015, during the administration of President Barack Obama, the FCC implemented net neutrality regulations requiring internet service providers (ISPs) to treat content and applications equally. On December 14, 2017, the FCC voted 3-2 to repeal the rules.[2][3][4] See the article Federal policy on technology, privacy, and cybersecurity, 2017-2020 for more information on these changes.

Structure

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Mission

According to its official website, the FCC's mission statement is as follows:

“ The Federal Communications Commission regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories.[5] ”
—FCC.gov[1]

Leadership

The current chair of the FCC is Brendan Carr. The other commissioners are Anna M. Gomez as of June 2025.[6]

Recent news

This section links to a Google news search for the term Federal + Communications + Commission

Federal Communications Commission News Feed

See also

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Federal Communications Commission, "What We Do," accessed December 15, 2017
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 AllGov, "Federal Communications Commission," accessed December 15, 2017
  3. ↑ Politico, "FCC votes to repeal net neutrality rules," December 14, 2017
  4. ↑ ABC News, "What is net neutrality?" December 11, 2017
  5. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  6. ↑ FCC.gov, "Leadership," accessed June 12, 2025
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