Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr warned television and radio broadcasters that knowingly airing fabricated polling data could violate federal licensing obligations, following revelations that a polling operation supplied invented election results to major news organizations.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr warned broadcasters Wednesday, Oct. 21, that airing fabricated election polls could violate federal rules against news distortion and broadcast hoaxes, raising questions about media accountability less than two weeks before the Nov. 3 midterm elections.
Carr issued the warning after Wedgewood Polling acknowledged that it had fabricated survey results that appeared in news reports and national polling averages. The operation described its activities as an experiment intended to expose weaknesses in how journalists and election analysts evaluate polling data.
“During this election season, there has been a significant surge in entirely Fake Polls and Suppression Polls designed to do nothing more than interfere with the regular functioning of the electoral process and alter the normal patterns of voter turnout and enthusiasm,” Carr wrote on X.
He accused some news organizations of distributing questionable polling results without adequately examining their methodology or authenticity.
“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,” he said.
The FCC chairman emphasized that television and radio stations operating under federal licenses must comply with public-interest requirements, including rules addressing deliberate news distortion.
“Broadcasters are prohibited by the terms of their federal licenses from engaging in News Distortion or promoting Broadcast Hoaxes. It is important that broadcasters comply with their public interest obligations. After all, the country benefits greatly when Americans can trust and rely on the media to report the news fairly and accurately,” Carr stated.
He advised stations “to avoid engaging in News Distortions or running Broadcast Hoaxes by airing Polls that would violate their regulatory obligations.”
Carr added that broadcasters concerned about previously published polling information could provide additional context or corrections consistent with FCC regulations.
According to Reuters reporting on the warning, Carr did not identify specific polls or broadcasters that he believed had violated federal rules.
His comments followed Wedgewood Polling’s Oct. 20 admission that most of its published polling results were fabricated.
The purported polling organization said people with previous experience in political research established the operation to determine whether invented surveys could gain credibility among journalists, political commentators and polling aggregators.
According to Axios, election analysis organization FiftyPlusOne identified irregularities in Wedgewood’s surveys and questioned the group about its data and research methods.
Wedgewood subsequently acknowledged fabricating the results, describing the project as an attempt to demonstrate the industry’s limited scrutiny of polling organizations.
The group said its goal was to determine how easily a fictitious research firm could gain recognition and influence public discussion without producing legitimate survey data.
Its findings had appeared in several major publications and polling trackers, including those operated by The New York Times.
Following the admission, the Times removed Wedgewood’s surveys from its election polling database, while Decision Desk HQ removed 17 polls from its tracking systems.
The controversy affected polling coverage in multiple congressional and statewide races, raising concerns about whether fabricated surveys could influence campaign strategies, fundraising or perceptions of electoral competitiveness.
As The Guardian reported, Wedgewood’s admission came after journalists and analysts began questioning the authenticity of its methodology.
The disclosures also prompted criticism from polling professionals who argued that publishing false election data undermines public confidence in legitimate research.
However, Carr’s warning has generated a separate debate about the FCC’s authority over news content.
The commission’s news distortion policy generally requires evidence of deliberate falsification or manipulation of factual reporting. Inaccurate reporting, mistaken reliance on a source or expressions of opinion do not automatically constitute regulatory violations.
The FCC’s broadcast hoax rules also apply under specific circumstances and are not a general prohibition against all erroneous news reports.
FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez criticized Carr’s statement, arguing that journalists should not face regulatory threats for reporting polling information in good faith.
According to The Washington Post, Gomez maintained that good-faith reporting on polling data does not violate FCC regulations and warned that overly broad interpretations could discourage legitimate journalism.
The FCC directly licenses local broadcast television and radio stations, but its authority does not extend in the same manner to newspapers, cable news networks or online publications.
Carr has previously emphasized broadcasters’ public-interest responsibilities when criticizing coverage involving the Trump administration.
On March 14, he warned that broadcasters could face consequences for what he described as false reporting about the U.S. conflict with Iran.
“The law is clear,” Carr said. “Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will lose their licenses if they do not.”
In January, Carr also addressed federal equal-time requirements, questioning whether certain late-night and daytime talk programs qualified for exemptions traditionally available to legitimate news programming.
“For years, legacy TV networks assumed that their late night and daytime talk shows qualify as ‘bona fide news’ programs—even when motivated by purely partisan political purposes,” he said. “Today, the FCC reminded them of their obligation to provide all candidates with equal opportunities.”
Carr has also reopened complaints involving major broadcast networks and their coverage of the 2024 presidential election.
He has maintained that broadcasters face obligations different from those of other media organizations because they operate using publicly licensed airwaves.
“They have a license granted by us, the FCC, that comes with an obligation to operate in the public interest,” Carr previously stated.
The Wedgewood controversy has renewed scrutiny of how polling firms establish credibility and how news organizations verify surveys before incorporating them into election coverage.
Polling analysts generally evaluate sample size, methodology, respondent selection, weighting procedures and organizational transparency when assessing survey reliability.
Fabricated polling data can distort the information available to voters and political campaigns, although the extent to which Wedgewood’s surveys affected public opinion or electoral behavior remains unknown.
The FiftyPlusOne investigation documented the discrepancies that led to Wedgewood’s admission and challenged the group’s characterization of the episode as a legitimate research experiment.
As the midterm elections approach, Carr’s statement places additional pressure on broadcasters to scrutinize polling sources while raising unresolved questions about where the FCC’s limited authority over deliberate news distortion ends and constitutionally protected editorial judgment begins.
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