Whether it is lifting net neutrality regulations, allowing AI to reach its full potential to benefit mankind, educating policy makers about content moderation, clearing legacy regulations at the Federal Communications Commission, advocating for greater spectrum efficiency, or defending business practices that benefit consumers but are disliked by antitrust enforcers, CEI punches above its weight. Coalition activity, relationships with tech and telecom journalists, media appearances, policy events, Capitol Hill outreach, op-eds, and in-depth studies combine to make CEI influential in the tech and telecom policy area.
Tech and Telecom Issue Areas
Featured Posts
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Big Tech, Europe, and free speech with Spence Purnell
In this week’s episode we cover the Supreme Court’s recent decision on tariff powers, myths of the Great Recession, and fiduciary duty…
Blog
Rule by Vibes, Ruined by Reality: Why the FTC’s HSR Loss Demands a Legislative Fix
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is doubling down on a losing hand. Despite a stinging courtroom defeat last week that vacated its 2024 premerger…
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 media…
Search Posts
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Big Tech, Europe, and free speech with Spence Purnell
In this week’s episode we cover the Supreme Court’s recent decision on tariff powers, myths of the Great Recession, and fiduciary duty…
Blog
Rule by Vibes, Ruined by Reality: Why the FTC’s HSR Loss Demands a Legislative Fix
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is doubling down on a losing hand. Despite a stinging courtroom defeat last week that vacated its 2024 premerger…
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 media…
News Release
Who Will Write the Future? CEI Releases New Video on the Artificial Intelligence
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) today released a new video exploring the rapid rise of artificial intelligence and the policy decisions necessary for the United States to…
Blog
It’s time to kill the equal time rule
While the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is commendably repealing many outdated regulations, one major form of broadcast content regulation stubbornly remains: the “equal time”…
The Wall Street Journal
Landmark Trial Tests Claims That Social Media Harms Teens
The Wall Street Journal quoted CEI’s expert on Section 230 “The plaintiffs’ bar has been trying to get around Section 230 for a long…
Letters
CEI joins ATR in FCC rulemaking re ATSC 3.0 broadcast mandates: Urging a Continued Voluntary, Market-Driven Approach to Next Generation Television
Thank you for the opportunity to provide further comments on proposed “Next Generation” Broadcast Television Standards. We, the undersigned organizations, urge the Federal Communications Commission…
National Review
Don’t Let Harmful EU Tech Regulations Spread Across the Globe
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 various…
Blog
Streaming and Wi-Fi: A perfect storm of permissionless innovation
The most transformative technologies don’t arrive with a government blueprint. They emerge when entrepreneurs and technologists are free to experiment and innovate. Today’s transformation of…
Orange County Register
America’s AI electricity ‘crisis’ is easily fixed: Unleash market forces
Orange County Register cited CEI’s expert on data centers Communities are rebelling against the construction of massive data farms. Some opposition…
The Sacramento Bee
POINT: Throwing parental rights on the barbie won’t fly in the United States
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 around…
News Release
AI Executive Order preempts state regulation, promotes US competitiveness: CEI analysis
President Trump on Dec. 11 signed an executive order to preempt states from regulating artificial intelligence and establishing a federal framework focused on child…
Blog
A year end blessing: No net neutrality
As we approach the end of the year, it’s a natural time to reflect on what we’re grateful for. While many blessings come to mind,…
The Daily Wire
Australia’s Novel Social Media Ban For Kids Sparks Debate As Some Platforms Get A Free Pass
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 Jessica Melugin,…
Civitas Outlook
In the Long Run, the Meta Case Is Dead
It’s official: Meta is not illegally monopolizing the “personal social networking” (PSN) market through its 2012 purchase of Instagram and 2014 purchase of WhatsApp. The…
Comment
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 Charter…
News Release
Melugin: Preempting state-level AI regulation shouldn’t come at the expense of speech rights and parental responsibility
The House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade will hold a hearing this morning on several bills related to technology,…
Blog
Camelot and misuse of the public interest
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Chair Brendan Carr has used the Communications Act’s public interest obligation to pressure broadcast licensees. This includes threatening ABC over…
Reason
5 Legal Reforms To Consider as Government Officials Lean on Critics
Reason cited CEI’s expert in new study on broadcasting regulation Also making that point is the Competitive Enterprise Institute’s Brian A. Rankin in a …
News Release
New CEI paper: FCC should stop regulating news content
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has long used its role in licensing spectrum to broadcast television and radio stations to regulate those outlets under the…
The Daily Economy
Digital ID and the Return of Big Brother Britain
Fresh out of university and looking for a career in public policy, I interviewed for a job in the Conservative Research Department of the British…
Comment
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 on the Office…
Blog
Free Speech Week: The speech that ignited a revolution — and still speaks to us today
A Richmond story, a Virginia legacy, and the American ethos Richmond is my home city. My family has lived in Virginia for generations, and our…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition with Center for Individual Freedom in Strong Support of Charter–Cox Merger to Advance Free-Market Innovation and Consumer Benefits
Dear Secretary Dortch: The undersigned organizations submit this letter to the Federal Communications Commission (hereinafter FCC) in support of the proposed combination of Charter Communications,…
Civitas Institute
The First Amendment Vise
It’s been a rough ride for freedom of speech lately. The reads, “Congress shall make no law…prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of…
Blog
Conservative radio and the risks of FCC pressure on broadcast licensees
Conservative radio is one of the most potent forces in American politics. It emerged from Federal Communications Commission (FCC) deregulation that fostered free speech and…
Letters
CEI Joins CFIF in Coalition Letter Urging FCC to Preserve Free Market in Broadcast Negotiations
Dear Chairman Carr: We, the undersigned conservative, free-market and pro-innovation organizations, write in support of your efforts to reduce government regulation and involvement in the…
Testimony
CEI’s Jessica Melugin speaks on The U.K.’s Online Safety Act
Chair Jordan, ranking member Raskin, and distinguished members of the House Judiciary Committee, thank you for the opportunity to submit written testimony to this critical…
Blog
Antitrust abuse threatens America’s AI dominance
On July 14, 2025, Jensen Huang, CEO of Santa Clara-based NVIDIA, and President Donald Trump agreed to allow NVIDIA to resume its exports to…
News Release
Supreme Court ruling on social media age verification isn’t the final word: CEI analysis
The Supreme Court today in an emergency ruling declined to block Mississippi from enforcing an age-verification law imposed on nine social media platforms. The trade group…
Blog
Closing the window on public media funding
A door has closed, but windows remain open. Recently, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB) announced that it would discontinue operations in light of…
Blog
AI’s real job threat is to Washington, not workers
There’s no denying artificial intelligence (AI) can replace a lot—including, eventually, the very think tankers analyzing its effects as we do occasionally here at CEI.
Utility Dive
Trump’s AI action plan calls for dispatchable resources and grid upgrades
Utility Dive cited CEI’s expert on AI Paige Lambermont, a fellow at the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute, said, “Only so much of this can…
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…
Bloomberg Law
Supreme Court Kept Universal Service Boondoggle on Life Support
The strident insistence that someone else will pay a tax has been a dominant theme of 2025. Last month, the US Supreme Court stuck to…
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…
Comment
CEI Comments on Proposed Social Media Rulemaking
On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), I appreciate the opportunity to comment on the social media rules proposed by the Attorney General’s Office:…
Blog
Lawmakers continue to embrace incoherent tech policy
As Congress continues its march to “rein in Big Tech,” some lawmakers seem unaware of how their stated goals conflict with each other. Members want…
Letters
CEI Joins ATIF: Stopping Non-Tariff Attacks on U.S. Tech Firms and Industries
RE: Stopping Non-Tariff Attacks on U.S. Tech Firms and Industries Dear Secretary Bessent, Secretary Lutnick, Ambassador Greer, and Mr. Navarro: On behalf of the Information…
Study
Universal Service Subsidies Have Failed
Introduction In 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the indeterminacy of Section 254 (§ 254 hereafter) of the…
News Release
Market-based Reforms Needed to Correct Failures of Universal Service Subsidies, Congress Urged to Act
A new report from the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) highlights the pervasive failures of the Universal Service Fund (USF) subsidies and calls on Congress…
Products
Universal Service Subsidies Have Failed
Introduction In 2024, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the indeterminacy of Section 254 (§ 254 hereafter) of the…
Letters
CEI Joins ATR: Overturn Biden’s Costly and Unlawful Wi-Fi Hotspot Rule with H.J. Res. 33
Dear Representative, We, the undersigned organizations, urge you to support of H.J.Res. 33, the resolution of disapproval under the Congressional Review Act to permanently overturn…
Blog
Good things happen when spectrum is allocated to the marketplace
There has been recent legislative activity on spectrum allocation, so it is a good time to remind ourselves why moving as much spectrum as…
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 Reducing Anti-Competitive Regulatory Barriers
RE: Request for Public Comment Regarding Reducing Anti-Competitive Regulatory Barriers Docket No.: FTC-2025-0028 On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), we submit comments to…
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
Time’s up for the equal time rule
Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines “anachronism” as a person or thing that is chronologically out of place, “especially: one from a former age that is…
Staff & Scholars
Jessica Melugin
Director of the Center for Technology & Innovation
- Antitrust
- Innovation
- Media, Speech and Internet Freedoms
Clyde Wayne Crews
Fred L. Smith Fellow in Regulatory Studies
- Business and Government
- Consumer Freedom
- Deregulation
Fred L. Smith, Jr.
Founder; Chairman Emeritus
- Automobiles and Roads
- Aviation
- Business and Government