Experts at Free State Event Warn Against Expanded Federal Role in Broadband, Media Regulation

WASHINGTON, June 5, 2026 – Key issues facing the Federal Communications Commission were front and center during a policy debate hosted by the Free State Foundation, a conservative think tank.

In a panel titled “The Next 20 Years: Predictions from FSF Scholars,” speakers warned that communications policy must move away from excessive government involvement in broadband infrastructure and media regulation.

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One subject Thursday was the Universal Service Fund, which subsidizes rural telecommunications providers. Panelist Michelle Connolly , a law professor at Duke University, scrutinized the fund, referencing a recent scandal surrounding a convicted felon receiving millions in subsidies to provide inferior internet service in Alaska.

Connolly argued that exploitation of the fund has become widespread and that it no longer works to the benefit of unserved households. “Regardless of what the original intent was, the USF has really become purely an entitlement program,” Connolly said.

Daniel Lyons , a professor at Boston College Law School, said the FCC has renewed its focus on legacy media and the public interest standard, which requires broadcasters using government-issued spectrum licenses to operate in the public interest. He cited FCC Chairman Brendan Carr’s recent tightening of the equal-time rules and the PBS sponsorship rules as examples of the public interest standard being used for political purposes.

Lyons stressed that this politicization is not unique to the Trump administration, calling its very existence “inconsistent with basic First Amendment principles.” He argued that demand to end excessive government limits on free speech in broadcasting is a bipartisan issue.

In reference to the landmark Supreme Court case Red Lion Broadcasting Co. v. FCC, Lyons said, “Both Justices Thomas and Ginsburg have gone on record as saying it should be overturned.” Red Lion ruled that the rights of viewers to receive diverse viewpoints superseded the First Amendment rights of broadcasters.

The FSF seeks to promote free-market, free-speech, limited-government, and rule-of-law principles. “I’m certain that the best way forward for America as we celebrate our 250th birthday and for the Free State Foundation as it celebrates its 20th anniversary is to be true to its founding principles,” said FSF founder Randolph May.

Speakers framed those debates as part of a larger question facing communications policy over the next two decades: whether new technologies and changing media markets should lead to expanded federal oversight or renewed limits on agency authority.