President-elect Donald Trump has picked Brendan Carr, a critic of the Biden administration’s telecom policies and Big Tech, as chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, he said in a statement on Sunday.

Carr, 45, is currently the top Republican on the FCC, the independent agency that regulates telecommunications.

He has been a harsh critic of the FCC’s decision not to finalize nearly $900 million in broadband subsidies for Elon Musk’s SpaceX satellite internet unit Starlink, as well as the Commerce Department’s $42 billion broadband infrastructure program and President Joe Biden’s spectrum policy.

Last week, Carr wrote to Meta’s Facebook (META.O), opens new tab, Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O), opens new tab Google, Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab and Microsoft (MSFT.O), opens new tab saying they had taken steps to censor Americans. Carr said on Sunday the FCC must “restore free speech rights for everyday Americans.”

Democratic Senator Ed Markey said on Sunday Carr’s letter amounted to “a regulator implicitly threatening private companies for their speech. The FCC under Trump is prepared to become the Federal Censorship Commission.”

The president-elect has scorned actions by Disney’s (DIS.N), opens new tab ABC, Comcast’s (CMCSA.O), opens new tab NBC and Paramount Global’s (PARA.O), opens new tab CBS and suggested they could lose their FCC licenses for various actions. Trump also sued CBS over its “60 Minutes” interview with Vice President Kamala Harris.

Carr criticized NBC for letting Harris appear on “Saturday Night Live” just before the election

Source:Reuters