Civitas Institute
Current Antitrust Actions Endanger America’s AI Edge
“It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near one” writes J.R.R. Tolkien in The Hobbit. But that’s precisely…
News Release
CEI experts react to White House AI Action Plan
Today, the White House released “Winning the Race: America’s AI Action Plan”, a multi-faceted policy document intended to help the United States keep its…
Letters
CEI Joins ATR: Applauding U.S. Action on DST, Calling for Tougher EU Trade Terms
Dear President Trump, Thank you for protecting American innovators from abuse by the Canadian government through their Digital Services Tax (DST). We also applaud your…
Blog
For the sake of user privacy, keep Google search remedies narrow and germane
The movement in the Biden and Trump administrations of antitrust officials away from consumer welfare and towards a federal judiciary of active regulation is on…
Comment
CEI Comments on Technology Platform Censorship
RE: Request for Public Comment Regarding Technology Platform Censorship Docket No.: FTC-2025-0023 Introduction The authors of this submission would like to thank the Federal Trade…
Blog
A light in the darkness: Federal preemption for AI regulation
The joy of federal preemption may soon be upon us. The House Energy and Commerce Committee included a ten-year moratorium on state AI regulation…
Blog
Otherwise Objectionable episode 6: ‘The Rest of the World’
The sixth episode of Otherwise Objectionable, the narrative-driven podcast that tells the true story of Section 230 of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, focuses on…
News Release
Decision in Google antitrust case a major blow for online competitiveness: CEI analysis
On Thursday, a federal court ruled that Google violated antitrust law by maintaining a monopoly over online advertising. CEI experts caution about the precedent and…
Washington Examiner
FTC’s antitrust crusade against Meta contradicts key parts of the Trump agenda
We’re all about to find out if it’s the White House or what’s left of the administrative state that’s calling the shots on…
Blog
Otherwise Objectionable episode 5: ‘Blowback, and the Dust Settles’
The fifth episode of Otherwise Objectionable, the narrative-driven podcast that tells the true story of Section 230 of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, recounts how the…
Blog
Otherwise Objectionable episode 4: ‘The Solution’
The fourth episode of Otherwise Objectionable, the narrative-driven podcast that tells the true story of Section 230 of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, picks up…
Testimony
Jessica Melugin Testimony before House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust
Chair Fitzgerald, ranking member Nadler, and distinguished members of the subcommittee, thank you for holding this hearing and inviting me to testify today. My name…
Blog
Otherwise Objectionable episode 3: ‘Law and Disorder’
The third episode of Otherwise Objectionable, the narrative-driven podcast that tells the true story of Section 230 of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, moves beyond…
Blog
Otherwise Objectionable episode 2: ‘The Dawn of the Internet’
The second episode of Otherwise Objectionable, the narrative-driven podcast that tells the true story of Section 230 of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, focuses on…
Los Angeles Times
The Trump administration schooled Europe on free speech. Why ignore the lesson at home?
Vice President JD Vance’s wise words to Europe about U.S. commitments to free speech are on a collision course with some of what’s happening stateside.
Blog
Otherwise Objectionable Podcast episode 1: ‘The Most Misunderstood Law on the Internet’
Otherwise Objectionable is the brand-new limited series podcast that tells the true story of how a previously-obscure defamation law, Section 230 of the 1996…
National Review
Trump Transition at FTC Is No Reagan Revolution
Don’t call it a “comeback.” Those hoping for a Reagan-era-like return to economic sanity or regulatory humility in antitrust at the Federal Trade Commission…
Letters
CEI joins the Black Rock Group to support Make America Competitive Again.
Dear Speaker Johnson and Majority Leader Thune, On behalf of the Competitiveness Coalition, we write today to urge you and your colleagues to support President…
Products
Free to Prosper: Telecommunications
Products
Free to Prosper: Artificial intelligence
Products
Free to Prosper: Online speech
Products
Free to Prosper: Antitrust
News Release
Meta’s new content moderation is a step in the right direction: CEI analysis
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, announced major changes to its content moderation system today. The company says it aims to allow as…
News Release
Report: FTC used insufficient analysis in its investigation of Pharmacy Benefit Managers
A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report delves into major problems with a Federal Trade Commission report critical of Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs). PBMs are specialized…
Study
FTC Flunks Interim Report
News Release
Kroger-Albertsons merger blocked by federal judge: CEI analysis
Today, a federal judge sided with the Federal Trade Commission in its lawsuit to stop a merger between Kroger and Albertsons. CEI experts weigh in…
National Review
Please, Somebody Google ‘Hubris’
The pretense of knowledge is on full display in the Department of Justice’s proposed remedies for the Google trial. The government’s…
Blog
A blueprint for digital censorship in the US?
Internal documents from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), as revealed by digital censorship journalist Matt Taibbi, showed that the group’s primary…
Reason
The Justice Department’s Proposals for Breaking Up Google’s Dominance Won’t Work
Reason quoted CEI’s expert on antitrust atmosphere Jessica Melugin, director of the Center for Technology and Innovation at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, tells Reason that a…
Blog
Searching for a remedy that makes sense
The Department of Justice recently sent its proposed remedies to the federal judge who found Google guilty of illegally monopolizing web search. Specifically,…
The New York Times
Inside Harris’s Big Economic Pitch
The New York Times quoted CEI’s expert on Harris’s Economic Pitch While a similar argument didn’t sway regulators in JetBlue’s attempted acquisition of Spirit, financial industry…
News Release
Biden DOJ’s antitrust lawsuit against Visa unfounded
The Biden Justice Department today announced an antitrust lawsuit against Visa, alleging the company illegally monopolized the debit card market by enticing merchants away from…
News Release
Judge gets Google antitrust ruling wrong
A federal judge ruled today that Google violated antitrust law, declaring “Google is a monopolist” in online search. Competitive Enterprise Institute antitrust, legal, and economic…
Reason
Senate To Vote on Web Censorship Bill Disguised as Kids Safety
Reason cites Jessica Melugin on KOSA safety flaws “KOSA would trigger mandatory uploading of government id’s, face scans or social security numbers of…
The Washington Times
KOSA is a poor substitute for parenting
Good parenting was always a lot of work, but guarding kids’ online mental health has added to the parental load. Not every problem has a…
News Release
CEI to Recognize Entrepreneurship and George Will’s Promethean Contributions at Julian L. Simon Memorial Dinner in September
Blog
Missing the economists in FTC’s latest PBM study
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released its not-so-objectively titled interim report on Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs): Pharmacy Benefit Managers: The Powerful Middlemen Inflating Drug…
News Release
New FTC study on drug costs fails to conduct empirical analysis of market conditions
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) release a new study today claiming Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) are responsible for higher drug costs. FTC Commissioner Melissa Holyoak…
News Release
Supreme Court decision on state social media laws portends free speech victories
Today, the Supreme Court issued its decision in Moody v. NetChoice & CCIA and NetChoice & CCIA v. Paxton, two related cases reviewing state…
National Review
Baseless Federal Investigations Would Stifle America’s Pioneering AI Industry
The Biden administration is going beyond antitrust enforcement in AI and is instead trying to predict the future of the industry itself. Reports indicate…
Blog
Everyone agrees we need more spectrum, so why is Congress making it complicated?
Politics prioritized over policy is de rigueur these days, but it shouldn’t be for spectrum auction reauthorization. The importance to the US economy and to…
News Release
AI antitrust investigations go against U.S. innovation: CEI analysis
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) announced new antitrust investigations into investments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) made by Microsoft, OpenAI, and…
Wall Street Journal
For the Sake of Free Speech, Keep Section 230
The only remedy Reps. McMorris Rodgers and Pallone Jr. offer for online harms is to turn the plaintiffs’ bar loose on tech companies, a curious…
News Release
DOJ’s suit to breakup Live Nation-Ticketmaster will not lead to lower prices for entertainment
The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit today against Live Nation, the parent company of Ticketmaster, alleging anticompetitive behavior. The DOJ lawsuit seeks to…
Wall Street Journal
For the Sake of Free Speech, Keep Section 230
The only remedy Reps. McMorris Rodgers and Pallone Jr. offer for online harms is to turn the plaintiffs’ bar loose on tech companies, a curious…
National Review
Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Section 230
The House Energy and Commerce Committee released a draft bill to sunset the online liability shield commonly known as Section 230. The proposal is…
National Review
Free expression depends on it.
The House Energy and Commerce Committee released a draft bill to sunset the online liability shield commonly known as Section 230. The proposal is only about 50 words…
Letters
CEI Leads Coalition Against Section 230 Repeal or Replace
Dear Members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, We write to you in advance of the committee hearing on May 22, 2024 to express…
Blog
How a carefully planned strategy can persuade a skeptical judiciary
Former FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Howard Beales and former FTC Chairman Timothy J. Muris co-authored a new CEI paper contrasting the radical…
Blog
US move to ban TikTok a troubling signal for our great experiment in self-determination
As a part of a foreign aid funding package, the Senate passed a bill mandating TikTok’s divestiture from Chinese-based parent company, ByteDance. Biden…