Chapter 28 presents the FCC as a key arena for conservative action on speech, infrastructure, national security, and technology competition. It argues that a new FCC chair should use agenda control and interpretive authority to challenge Big Tech, tighten China-related communications security, expand spectrum and infrastructure policies, and reorient the commission toward what the chapter treats as pro-growth, pro-speech, and pro-sovereignty goals.
- Chapter title: Federal Communications Commission
- Chapter number: 28
- Major institutional domain: communications regulation, spectrum policy, broadband deployment, platform governance, and national-security-related telecom policy
- Chapter position: Section 5, Independent Regulatory Agencies, as shown on the retained PDF contents page.
- The printed contents place Chapter 28 on page 845 and Chapter 29 on page 861
¶ Major claims and proposals
- The chapter argues that the FCC chair has unusually strong agenda-setting power and should use it to change the commission's course quickly.
- It calls for reinterpretation of Section 230 in a way that would narrow judicially expanded liability protections and create pressure for greater transparency and accountability from major internet platforms.
- It recommends FCC transparency rules for large technology platforms and support for broader legislative reform that would strip away what the chapter treats as excessive speech-related immunity.
- It treats China-related telecom and AI risks as a core FCC priority, recommending expansion and updating of the Covered List, stronger action against insecure providers, full funding for rip-and-replace programs, and a broader clean-standards initiative.
- It calls for a renewed pro-growth connectivity agenda centered on spectrum release, infrastructure deployment, and rollback of rules that the chapter sees as outdated or anti-competitive.
- It also emphasizes internal FCC accountability and governance, tying conservative reform to stronger chair-led control over commission priorities.
¶ Institutions, actors, or domains involved
- Federal Communications Commission
- major technology and platform companies
- Section 230 and internet-platform liability debates
- telecom and broadband providers
- China-related communications-security policy
- spectrum allocation, infrastructure permitting, and universal-service debates
¶ Policy mechanisms and implementation logic
The chapter relies on the chair's agenda power, administrative interpretation, targeted rulemaking, interbranch coordination with Congress, and national-security-oriented communications policy. Its core logic is that the FCC can be used both to discipline large digital intermediaries and to accelerate infrastructure and spectrum policies that the chapter treats as economically and strategically beneficial.
- The chapter argues for less heavy-handed economic regulation while endorsing aggressive intervention in platform governance, Section 230 interpretation, and national-security screening.
- It frames the FCC as a defender of free speech while also endorsing strong federal leverage over communications intermediaries and platform behavior.
- The chapter explicitly says it does not provide a comprehensive FCC agenda, which means it should not be read as a full map of commission priorities.
- Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise, The Heritage Foundation, 2023; retained PDF edition.
- The printed contents place Chapter 28 on page 845 and Chapter 29 on page 861
- Extracted text in this pass clearly covers the FCC mission statement, chair authority, budget and structure, Section 230 interpretation, Big Tech transparency proposals, China- and AI-related security recommendations, spectrum strategy, and deregulation themes
¶ Evidence limits and open questions
- This chapter mixes communications infrastructure, speech-platform policy, and geopolitical telecom-security concerns in one unit, so later work could split it by policy domain if repeated citation makes that necessary.
- The chapter is prescriptive and should not be treated as evidence that the FCC adopted these proposals.
¶ Source access and local retention
The retained source is Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise, published by The Heritage Foundation in 2023. This page covers the portion of that policy volume identified above.
Atlas Trace retains a local research capture for provenance. The capture and processing records remain local; they are not available through this wiki. Consult the identified sources for public access options where available. See Sources, access, and local retention.