Brendan Carr and the TikTok Dodge

Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr is threatening broadcasters over slanted coverage of the war in Iran. He’s firing the wrong missile at the wrong target. He might want to tell President Trump that TikTok is a real national-security risk and a bigger source of fake news. Few Americans today get their news from the public airwaves. Social media now ranks as the top news source for most Americans, and it is a leading medium for adversaries to spread anti-American propaganda. Media reports say pro-Iran social-media accounts are sharing fake AI-generated images, such as captured American soldiers being held at gunpoint by Iranian troops and U.S. military bases and embassies in the Middle East being blown up. TikTok will now become even more entrenched in American life, and it will be difficult for anyone in media to avoid using it. But don’t be surprised if the new, but maybe not improved, TikTok becomes a vehicle for China to keep poisoning political debate in the U.S.