WASHINGTON, Nov 18, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - US President-elect Donald Trump tapped Republican Brendan Carr, an Elon Musk-backed critic of big tech, to lead the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), calling him a "warrior for Free Speech" in a statement on Sunday.

Carr has "fought against the regulatory Lawfare that has stifled Americans' Freedoms" and will "end the regulatory onslaught that has been crippling America's Job Creators and Innovators, and ensure that the FCC delivers for rural America," Trump said in the statement.

Carr said on X, formerly Twitter, that he was "humbled and honored" to take on the role of FCC chairman.

"We must dismantle the censorship cartel and restore free speech rights for everyday Americans," he wrote in another post.

Carr was already the senior Republican on the FCC, an independent agency that regulates licenses for television and radio, pricing of home internet, and other communications issues in the United States.

Long rumored as a contender for FCC chair, he has built an alliance with billionaire Musk -- Trump's wealthiest backer, whose Starlink satellite internet service could benefit from access to federal cash.

Carr has also publicly agreed with the incoming Trump administration's promises to slash regulation and punish television networks for what they say is political bias.

He authored a chapter on the FCC in the controversial Project 2025 document that purported to lay out a vision for a second Trump administration, in which he also called for the regulation of the largest tech companies, such as Meta, Google and Apple.