Luján, Cantwell, Colleagues Raise Major Alarms Over Foreign Government Influence in American News Media if FCC Greenlights Paramount-Warner Brothers Investment Deal

Paramount's financing scheme needs FCC approval so Saudi Arabia, UAE & Qatar can own significant stakes in its television stations

Foreign governments hostile to a free press could exert extraordinary influence over CNN, CBS News, 60 Minutes & local Paramount-owned TV stations in major media markets including NYC, LA, Chicago, Dallas, Boston, Seattle-Tacoma, Detroit, Minneapolis, Miami, Denver & Pittsburgh

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Telecommunications and Media, joined U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), Andy Kim (D-N.J.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) in writing to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chairman Brendan Carr, raising serious concerns over Paramount's unprecedented request to allow the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar to own 49.5% and potentially up to 100% of Paramount's equity to finance Paramount $111 billion takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. This is despite the fact that Congress set a 25% cap on foreign ownership of American TV and radio stations to ensure powerful media companies are ultimately controlled by American citizens.

"The scale, concentration, and scope of this proposal raise serious questions," the Senators wrote. "Foreign governments hostile to a free and independent press could exert unprecedented influence over a media conglomerate vital to American journalism and culture."

"If the filing is approved, Saudi, UAE, and Qatari sovereign investment funds would have significant influence over a number of the most significant and impactful news reporting and investigative journalism outlets in the United States, including CNN, CBS News, 60 Minutes, and 28 local Paramount-owned television stations in 17 of the country's largest media markets," they continued.

The FCC has never before allowed a sovereign wealth fund to hold a significant ownership stake of an American broadcaster. Chairman Carr, who had previously expressed concerns about foreign ownership of TikTok and opposed a transfer of radio stations because of a lack of plans to "wall off the unvetted foreign interests," appears to have no such concerns about this deal. Instead, he said the FCC review will "get through pretty quickly," and called its financing a "good deal." These statements, which raise questions about Chairman Carr's impartiality, were made despite the fact that the proposed merger raises national security alarms.

"Media reports indicate that Tencent, a Chinese company on the Department of Defense's list of companies connected to the Chinese military, will also take an equity stake in the combined company," continued the Senators. "Allowing our most significant global adversary to partly own Paramount or a combined new entity that will own CNN and CBS News would risk our national security."

"Paramount's petition asks for an unprecedented degree of foreign control of U.S. broadcasting," they wrote. "[W]e have serious doubts that paving the way for these anti-democratic governments to own between 49.5% and 100% of an American media empire serves the "public interest."

The full text of the letter to Chairman Carr is below and HERE.

May 20, 2026

Dear Chairman Carr:

We write to express serious concerns about Paramount Global's request for the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to authorize foreign investors to own between 49.5% and 100% of the equity in its FCC-licensed broadcast television stations. This would include significant equity stakes held by the sovereign wealth funds of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Qatar to finance the $111 billion merger of Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery and could also include ownership by a company with links to the Chinese government. Such a media giant would include the 28 television stations owned by CBS, the movies and television shows of Paramount Pictures, and soon CNN, HBO, and other iconic media properties. The scale, concentration, and scope of this proposal raise serious questions. Foreign governments hostile to a free and independent press could exert unprecedented influence over a media conglomerate vital to American journalism and culture.

Section 310 of the Communications Act prohibits companies with more than 25% foreign ownership from indirectly owning TV or radio broadcast stations. This provision was meant to ensure powerful media companies are ultimately controlled by American citizens. Paramount, however, seeks an exception far exceeding the 25% statutory cap. Congress enacted these restrictions on foreign ownership of broadcasters because of concerns about the "foreign dominance of the cables and the dangers from espionage and propaganda disseminated through foreign-owned radio stations in the United States" during the First World War.

The foreign governments behind this investment systematically suppress press freedom in their own countries and have made a series of investments and gifts to entities controlled by the President and his family, raising serious concerns about their influence over the independent American media and the potential for corruption.

Reporters Without Borders ranked Saudi Arabia among the world's five worst countries in the 2026 Press Freedom Index above only Iran, China, North Korea, and Eritrea." The Press Freedom Index also found that the UAE and Qatar suppress independent media. In 2021, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman ordered the torture, execution, and dismemberment of Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi as part of the "Crown Prince's support for using violent measures to silence dissidents abroad." And these countries have engaged in influence peddling in the United States. In 2025, Emirati companies close to the government invested in the Trump family's cryptocurrency, shortly before the Trump administration authorized the sale of advanced AI chips to the UAE, and Qatar's government gifted President Trump a luxury jet being turned into the new Air Force One.

If the filing is approved, Saudi, UAE, and Qatari sovereign investment funds would have significant influence over a number of the most significant and impactful news reporting and investigative journalism outlets in the United States, including CNN, CBS News, 60 Minutes, and 28 local Paramount-owned television stations in 17 of the country's largest media markets, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Boston, Seattle, Detroit, Minneapolis, Miami, Denver, and Pittsburgh. And the Trump Administration appears to believe that the transaction will reduce media independence. Indeed, in complaining about CNN's coverage of the Iran War, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has said "the sooner" that Paramount takes over CNN, "the better."

And what's not in the petition is just as concerning. Media reports indicate that Tencent, a Chinese company on the Department of Defense's list of companies connected to the Chinese military, will also take an equity stake in the combined company. Allowing our most significant global adversary to partly own Paramount or a combined new entity that will own CNN and CBS News would risk our national security.

Paramount's petition asks for an unprecedented degree of foreign control of U.S. broadcasting. The FCC has never approved a significant ownership stake of an American broadcaster by a sovereign wealth fund-that is, an investment entity controlled by a foreign government. And the FCC's prior approval of foreign ownership of equity in broadcasters has been limited to entities based in allied NATO, Five Eyes, or friendly neighboring countries.

In the past, you have raised serious questions about foreign ownership of U.S. media entities. In 2024, you said Chinese ownership of TikTok presented "a clear and present danger to U.S. national security" and supported forcing divestiture. You also objected that the Commission approved the transfer of radio stations in 2024 without "plans to wall off the unvetted foreign interests." But in the case of Paramount, even before the application was filed, you claimed that the FCC had a "very minimal" role in reviewing Paramount's foreign ownership, the review would "get through pretty quickly," and that the Paramount-Warner Bros. transaction was a "good deal." These comments raise questions about your impartiality and the rigor of the Commission's review of this unprecedented foreign investment.

Given the well-documented hostility against a free press in their own countries, we have serious doubts that paving the way for these anti-democratic governments to own between 49.5% and 100% of an American media empire serves the "public interest." At a minimum, we urge you to conduct a rigorous and thorough review of the foreign investment in Paramount, its impact on editorial independence, and its implications for U.S. national security. We also demand that this investment be considered by the full Commission rather than by staff behind closed doors.

Please provide answers to the following questions and document requests by June 5.

1. Will you commit to a comprehensive review by Team Telecom, especially given the unprecedented risks to press freedom posed by the proposed equity investors?

2. Will the Commission and Team Telecom specifically review Tencent's role in the transaction and equity stake in Paramount?

3. Will you commit to voting on Paramount's request to raise its foreign ownership at the Commission level? If not, why?

4. Do you believe that foreign ownership of between 49.5% and 100% of Paramount, contemplated by the filing, would mean that the Middle Eastern sovereign wealth investment funds would have effective control or influence over decision making?

5. What specific assurances have the Saudi, Emirati, and Qatari sovereign wealth funds, and Tencent, provided the Commission that they will not attempt to influence the editorial, journalistic, or content decisions at Paramount, either by suppressing reporting and creative content unfavorable to their governments or by promoting content that runs contrary to American interests or values? Please provide all related documents.

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