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
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…
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…
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…
Blog
For the sake of user privacy, keep Google search remedies narrow and germane
- By: Jessica Melugin
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…
A light in the darkness: Federal preemption for AI regulation
- By: Jessica Melugin
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…
Otherwise Objectionable episode 6: ‘The Rest of the World’
- By: Jessica Melugin
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…
Op-Eds/Articles
Washington Examiner
FTC’s antitrust crusade against Meta contradicts key parts of the Trump agenda
- By: Jessica Melugin
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…
Los Angeles Times
The Trump administration schooled Europe on free speech. Why ignore the lesson at home?
- By: Jessica Melugin
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.
National Review
Trump Transition at FTC Is No Reagan Revolution
- By: Jessica Melugin
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…
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 in…
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 industry…
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 media…
Citations
Reason
The Justice Department’s Proposals for Breaking Up Google’s Dominance Won’t Work
- By: Jessica Melugin
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…
The New York Times
Inside Harris’s Big Economic Pitch
- By: Jessica Melugin
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…
Reason
Senate To Vote on Web Censorship Bill Disguised as Kids Safety
- By: Jessica Melugin
Reason cites Jessica Melugin on KOSA safety flaws “KOSA would trigger mandatory uploading of government id’s, face scans or social security numbers of…
Regulatory Comments
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…
FCC: Safeguarding and Securing the Open Internet, Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, 88 Fed. Reg. 76048
- By: Jessica Melugin
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (“CEI”) respectfully submits these comments in response to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) adopted on October 19, 2023, in the…
CEI Comments on Safeguarding and Securing the Open Internet
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (“CEI”) respectfully submits these comments in response to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (“NPRM”) adopted on October 19, 2023, in the…
Podcast Episodes
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,...