Jessica Melugin is director of the Center for Technology & Innovation at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Her research focuses on technology issues including antitrust, online privacy, artificial intelligence, telecommunications, social media content and net neutrality regulation. Her writings have appeared in The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, USA Today, Bloomberg Law, National Review and others. She has been cited in The Washington Post, Politico, U.S. News and World Report and Variety. Ms. Melugin is a frequent cable news television and radio guest.
She is an Innovators Network Antitrust and Competition Policy Fellow.
Ms. Melugin graduated magna cum laude from Claremont McKenna College, with a degree in government and art history. Her honors thesis explored the development of American antitrust law as it pertains to the Microsoft trial. She lives in Virginia’s horse country with her children.
Authored by Jessica Melugin
News
House-passed KIDS Act harms access to protected speech and substitutes parents’ judgment in favor of regulators’
The House of Representatives passed the KIDS Act today, a package that includes incentives for age verification and onerous directives for product design.
AICOA’s heavy-handed approach would harm consumers, stifle innovation, and degrade security and privacy
Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) re-introduced a modified version of the American Innovation and Choice Online Act (AICOA), which introduces new…
Trump EO on AI recognizes innovation imperative but leaves room for overreach
The Trump White House today put forward an executive order on “Promoting Advanced Artificial Intelligence Innovation and Security.” CEI regulatory…
Blog
DMA has its head in the Clouds
- By: Jessica Melugin
This week, the European Commission (EC) announced that Amazon’s AWS and Microsoft’s Azure Cloud services are being preliminarily designated as “gatekeepers” under the Digital…
The EU ran the experiment, America should not repeat it
- By: Jessica Melugin
“I worry a lot about the broad scope and the vague language that [AICOA] contains that I believe would lead to an untold…
An easy win possible on affordability for California regulators
- By: Jessica Melugin
Whether “affordability” is a serious policy prescription or just a campaign buzzword remains to be seen, but California’s Public Utilities Commission has a golden…
Op-Eds/Articles
National Review
Chasing Platforms Instead of Ambulances: Social Media Liability Trial Kicks Off in California
Proceedings have commenced in a trial poised to redefine the boundaries of free expression on the internet. The first-of-its-kind test case will determine if social…
National Review
Don’t Let Harmful EU Tech Regulations Spread Across the Globe
- By: Jessica Melugin
The European Union’s rejection of the digital revolution has been a cancer on the continent’s tech sector, member countries’ per capita GDPs, and the…
The Sacramento Bee
POINT: Throwing parental rights on the barbie won’t fly in the United States
- By: Jessica Melugin
The world’s first social media ban of users under age 16 is now in effect in Australia. Whatever parents’ genuine concerns and understandable frustrations…
Studies
FTC Flunks Interim Report
Introduction The Federal Trade Commission published its interim staff report on Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) on July 9, 2024, after launching an initial inquiry…
M&As Are A-Okay
- By: Jessica Melugin
Fretting about “killer acquisitions” and “kill zones” is common among regulators in Washington these days, but entrepreneurs and investors at work in the tech…
Don’t Confuse the Platform with the Train
Executive Summary Should social media companies be regulated like common carriers? To answer that question, this paper describes the functions and origins of social…
Citations
The Wall Street Journal
Landmark Trial Tests Claims That Social Media Harms Teens
- By: Jessica Melugin
The Wall Street Journal quoted CEI’s expert on Section 230 “The plaintiffs’ bar has been trying to get around Section 230 for…
The Daily Wire
Australia’s Novel Social Media Ban For Kids Sparks Debate As Some Platforms Get A Free Pass
- By: Jessica Melugin
The Daily Wire cited CEI’s expert on kids safety online “We haven’t really seen a plan like this be put into action,” said…
Fox Business
Social media giants scramble to control Charlie Kirk assassination videos after Utah shooting
- By: Jessica Melugin
Fox Business cited CEI’s expert on content moderation Jessica Melugin, director of the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Center for Technology and Innovation, told…
Regulatory Comments
Reply Comments of the Competitive Enterprise Institute in Support of Charter Communications, Inc. and Cox Communications, Inc.
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) appreciates the opportunity to file reply comments on the application to transfer control of Cox Communications, Inc. (Cox) to…
CEI comments on Regulatory Reform on Artificial Intelligence
RE: Request for Information: Regulatory Reform on Artificial Intelligence Docket No.: OSTP-TECH-2025-0067 The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) appreciates the opportunity to comment…
CEI comments on the Justice Department and National Economic Council’s Request for Information Regarding State Laws with Extraterritorial Economic Impacts OLP182; Docket No. DOJ-OLP-2025-0169
RE: Justice Department and National Economic Council Effort to Identify State Laws with Out-Of-State Economic Impacts OLP182; Docket No. DOJ-OLP-2025-0169 On behalf…
Podcast Episodes
Kids, Big Tech, and the First Amendment with Jessica Melugin
This week we cover deficit spending, the burdens of Total Boomer Luxury Communism, and how to renounce the villainization of business. Our guest this week...
How the World Works Podcast with Jessica Melugin
Kevin D. Williamson is joined by Jessica Melugin, director of the Center for Technology & Innovation at the Competitive Enterprise Institute. They discuss training horses,...