Politics

FCC Chair Brendan Carr Tells DISH Network To Nix DEI Policies Or Face The Music

Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr warned satellite television company DISH Network L.L.C. (“DISH”) that noncompliance with the agency’s directive to end diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) policies could potentially warrant investigation, during a Thursday open meeting at FCC Headquarters.

Carr made his warning after watchdog group Consumers’ Research uncovered a number of ideologically-driven programs at DISH, including “mandatory ideological training, promotion of gender ideology to kids, and climate activism in corporate culture,” according to a Wednesday letter the group sent to Carr and Attorney General Pam Bondi.

“One of the things we’ve been very clear on here at the FCC from day one is ending the promotion of invidious forms of DEI discrimination,” Carr said in response to a question asked by the Daily Caller News Foundation. “I did that effectively on day one following an executive order from President [Donald] Trump that ended the FCC’s own promotion [of DEI].”

“I’ve also been very clear to regulated entities that they should be ending their own promotion of invidious forms of DEI and discrimination,” he continued. “We have launched investigations before. We’ve sent a letter to Comcast on their issues. We’ve sent a letter to Verizon on theirs, and our engagement with different companies have proven to be successful in making sure that they’re complying with our EEOs [Equal Employment Opportunities].”

“Whether it’s DISH or anyone else, we would expect them to come into compliance with the FCC’s approach on this,” Carr added.

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Consumers’ Research had found that DISH held mandatory employee training titled “Hack Your Biased Brain,” which promoted what it called the “triple AAA” of DEI: “ally, amplify, advocate.” The watchdog’s letter also noted a “comprehensive DEI framework” at the company, which it said was “designed to embed ideological priorities into corporate operations.”

The watchdog group also highlighted DISH’s platforming of Here TV — a self-described “LGBT Library” — producing “gay versions” of conventional programming. DISH’s LGBT employee organization “Out at Dish” also promoted a “Coming Out Handbook” on “National Coming Out Day” in a 2024 Instagram post, according to Consumers’ Research.

The FCC launched investigations into Comcast and Verizon, among other companies, in the first months of the Trump administration, citing concerns over race and gender-based discrimination that did not comply with FCC regulations.

“I am concerned that Comcast and NBCUniversal may be promoting invidious forms of DEI in a manner that does not comply with FCC regulations,” Carr wrote in a February letter to Comcast CEO Brian Roberts. “For instance, Comcast states on its website that promoting DEI is ‘a core value of our business’ and public reports state that Comcast has an entire ‘DEI infrastructure’ that includes annual ‘DEI day[s],’ ‘DEI training for company leaders,’ and similar initiatives.”

The FCC’s DEI crackdown is a part of the Trump administration’s larger effort to eliminate DEI across government agencies and within the private sector. The administration has released numerous executive orders targeting DEI initiatives in both the public and private sectors and demanding the termination of “all DEI, DEIA, and ‘environmental justice’ offices and positions.”

“The Biden Administration forced illegal and immoral discrimination programs, going by the name ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ (DEI), into virtually all aspects of the Federal Government, in areas ranging from airline safety to the military,” states an Executive Order Trump signed on the first day of his second term. “That ends today. Americans deserve a government committed to serving every person with equal dignity and respect, and to expending precious taxpayer resources only on making America great.”