Decoder Podcast: Sen. Ed Markey Wants Media Companies to Fight for the First Amendment

Episode Date: December 11, 2025
Host: Nilay Patel (Editor-in-Chief, The Verge)
Guest: Senator Ed Markey (D-MA)

Episode Overview

This episode of Decoder centers on a wide-ranging, candid conversation with Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts about the mounting threats to free speech and democracy in America. The primary focus is the Trump administration's alleged weaponization of federal agencies—specifically the FCC under Chairman Brendan Carr—to suppress dissent and control the media landscape. The discussion includes urgent First Amendment issues, the confusing state of the TikTok ban, selective law enforcement, the role of big tech and legacy media, and the risks posed by unchecked artificial intelligence. Senator Markey makes a forceful call for both the media and policymakers to push back against what he describes as authoritarian overreach.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Democracy Under Threat and the Role of the FCC

• Trump Administration's Authoritarianism
  • Markey likens Trump to “Big Brother” from Orwell’s 1984 and accuses him of seeking to control thought and expression through executive power.
    • Memorable Quote (C):
      “Donald Trump is channeling Big Brother from George Orwell’s 1984. He wants to control. He wants thought police to be in charge of who we are as a country.” (06:41)
  • The FCC, under Chairman Brendan Carr, is alleged to have become an instrument of censorship, threatening media companies with fines and regulatory punishment over content (e.g., jokes about Trump on late-night shows).
• Executive Power and Selective Enforcement
  • Patel notes the “latent power” in the U.S. executive branch and how Trump’s administration is pushing its authority to new and potentially unconstitutional extremes.
    • (B): “There’s a lot of latent power in the executive…and Trump and the people in his administration are just trying to use that power as aggressively as possible…” (08:58)
  • The key question posed: Is the problem the existence of such executive authority, or is it Trump’s willingness to aggressively use it?

2. Media Companies and the First Amendment

• Media’s Reluctance to Fight Back
  • Markey argues media companies—citing CBS and others—are not defending their First Amendment rights and instead "bend the knee" to avoid conflict with the administration.
    • Quote (C):
      “What we’re seeing in 2025 increasingly are companies, media companies, who are willing to bend a knee, willing to pay the fine, willing to accept the actually illegal use of power by the FCC or by the White House.” (10:13)
  • Legal Precedent: Markey references successful legal defenses by law firms like Wilma Hale and urges media companies to take similar stands.
  • Structural Weakness vs. Tech Power:
    Unlike well-resourced tech companies, legacy media are now too weak (financially, institutionally) to put up lengthy legal fights, leaving the public less protected.

3. The TikTok Ban Debate

• Legal Limbo and Political Calculations
  • Despite a law passed by Congress banning TikTok or forcing a sale, and the Supreme Court upholding it, Trump has decided not to enforce it, hoping for a deal—creating uncertainty and further debate about selective enforcement.
    • (B): “Here you have a very clear law…the Supreme Court was asked to rule on it, and it’s being unenforced, maybe for political reasons…” (27:38)
  • Markey expresses concern over lack of transparency about the proposed Oracle deal and the ongoing deadline.
  • Lawmakers, including Markey, lack information:
    • (C): “No, I have written to the Trump administration. I’ve asked them for the answers. I have not received any answers from them.” (16:00)
• Underlying Motivations—Gaza War Influence
  • Patel raises a widespread perception among young Americans: the TikTok ban was motivated by the app’s role in amplifying pro-Palestinian voices and criticism of Israel, not just national security threats.
  • Markey recounts the case of Ramesa Ozturk, a student detained after writing about Gaza, as emblematic of attempts to silence dissent.
    • Quote (C):
      “[There] has been an effort to try to suppress the kind of discussion which we need about what was occurring in Gaza… We have to defend free speech in order to ensure that… everywhere, the ability to have our voices be heard.” (20:52)

4. FCC Chair Brendan Carr and Content Regulation

• Historic Power Shift
  • Brendan Carr’s tenure is marked by threats against TV networks and comedians over content, a reversal from previous Republican FCC policies that had embraced deregulation and internet-first approaches.
  • Markey calls Carr’s threats “Godfather Part one offers” against ABC and others (28:27).
  • The current regime is described as hypersensitive and authoritarian, using regulatory threats for political gain.
  • Quote (C):
    “This is a hypersensitive president who believes that he is all powerful. And he has an FCC commissioner who is now suffering from Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” (28:27)

5. Tech Industry vs. Legacy Media—Power and Regulation

• Tech’s Litigation Muscle; Media’s Weakness
  • Markey sees little difference now between tech and media companies in their willingness to acquiesce to administration pressure.
  • Despite immense resources, even the biggest tech companies rarely stand up forcefully, preferring to curry favor or make strategic deals with the administration.
    • “They allow themselves to be extorted too... But they simultaneously then take down the safeguards that were built in at an earlier period before Trump…” (36:51)
  • Tech companies evade regulation due to both resources and influence; media companies are cowed due to lack of resources and structural decline.

6. AI Regulation, State Preemption, and Special Interests

• AI Regulation as a Flashpoint
  • Markey describes industry efforts—driven by “the most extreme elements”—to preempt state-level laws regulating AI, privacy, etc., facilitated by a White House influenced by industry donations.
    • Quote (C):
      “The AI industry wants state preemption. The AI industry wants preemption of state privacy laws. … And this administration… [is] not interested in public policy consequences... but instead… what kind of monetary benefit can flow…” (39:44)
  • AI Civil Rights Act: Markey’s legislative response aims to apply longstanding civil rights protections to algorithmic discrimination.
  • Historical Analogy: He compares current regulatory needs to past waves of technological innovation—cars and safety regulation as precedent.
    • “We like the idea of an automobile. We just don’t like the idea of the law of unintended consequences being unleashed to the max. That’s what’s happening with AI right now…” (42:23)

7. Congressional Oversight, Bipartisanship, and Intra-Party Tensions

• FCC Testimony and Political Realities
  • Brendan Carr to testify in Congress Dec. 17. Markey hopes for bipartisan opposition to censorship but laments the lack of backbone among many GOP colleagues.
    • (C): “You only need three things to be in politics: backbone, backbone, and backbone.” (33:17)
• Splits in the Trump Coalition
  • Notable, if unusual, alliances forming in Congress—e.g., Markey and Marjorie Taylor Greene joining forces to block AI preemption bills sneaking into defense legislation (50:23).
  • The rise of “backroom players,” notably David Sacks, Trump’s “crypto and AI czar,” acting as a shadow policymaker with potential conflicts of interest.

8. Democratic Party Leadership & The Fight Ahead

• Calls for Courage and Action
  • Patel challenges Markey on whether current Democratic leaders are sufficiently vigorous; Markey insists it’s about the “age of ideas,” not biology, and that Democrats are fighting hard and making electoral gains.
    • Quote (C):
      “It’s not your age, it’s the age of your ideas. So I’m still the youngest guy on the road…” (57:07)
  • Reiterates need for coalition across generations, upholding a tradition of American movements fighting against entrenched power—drawing parallels to civil rights, suffrage, and more.
    • “We were knocked down, but we're not knocked out. And that's what the no Kings movement is all about. That's what the Democratic Party has to be all about." (60:40)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Donald Trump is channeling Big Brother from George Orwell’s 1984. He wants to control. He wants thought police to be in charge of who we are as a country.”
  — Sen. Ed Markey (06:41)

• “What we’re seeing in 2025 increasingly are companies, media companies, who are willing to bend a knee… rather than contest it, instead just try to put it behind them. …I think it’s pretty clear that…they had a very high probability of winning in court in terms of the exercise of their First Amendment rights.”
  — Sen. Ed Markey (10:13–11:04)

• “No, I have written to the Trump administration. I’ve asked them for the answers. I have not received any answers from them.”
  — Sen. Ed Markey on TikTok, (16:00)

• “This is a hypersensitive president who believes that he is all powerful. And he has an FCC commissioner who is now suffering from Invasion of the Body Snatchers.”
  — Sen. Ed Markey (28:27)

• “You only need three things to be in politics: backbone, backbone, and backbone.”
  — Sen. Ed Markey (33:17)

• “We were knocked down, but we’re not knocked out. …That’s what the Democratic Party has to be all about.”
  — Sen. Ed Markey (60:40)

Timestamps for Major Topics

• Trump Administration, FCC, and the First Amendment: 06:41–08:58
• Media Industry’s Response: 10:13–12:28
• TikTok Ban & Legislative Uncertainty: 12:28–19:57
• Gaza, Social Media, and Free Speech Suppression: 19:57–21:36
• FCC’s Selective Enforcement Against Broadcasters: 27:38–35:21
• Big Tech vs. Legacy Media—Structural Pressures: 35:32–38:42
• AI Regulation, State Preemption, and Industry Influence: 39:35–42:23
• Congressional Oversight, Backdoor Influence (David Sacks): 43:06–55:40
• Democratic Party, Leadership, and the Fight Ahead: 56:24–63:11

Summary Takeaways

• Senator Ed Markey urges robust defense of the First Amendment, calling out the Trump administration’s aggressive use of executive power—particularly via the FCC—as a fundamental threat to democracy.
• Both tech and media companies are faulted for capitulating to government overreach; media due to weakness, tech due to willingness for deals.
• The unresolved TikTok saga exemplifies selective and politically motivated enforcement of laws, raising deeper concerns about transparency and free expression.
• The current regulatory approach, particularly around AI, risks being dictated by industry insiders with little public accountability.
• Markey closes by invoking America's long tradition of popular movements rising against entrenched power, insisting that both parties, but especially Democrats, must show “backbone” and energy to preserve democracy in the face of what he calls a constitutional crisis.