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
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…
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…
Search Posts
National Review
Why Ohio’s Attempt to Regulate Google as a ‘Common Carrier’ Is a Terrible Idea
A decade ago, when Google search was first accused of self-preferencing its own results, a colleague of mine created a meme with text over…
Blog
What Do We Want from Our Platforms?
Two recently introduced House bills seek to restructure antitrust law, supposedly to tackle purported abuses by “big tech” firms. They aim to change how the…
Blog
PRO-SPEECH Act Seeks to Reintroduce Problem Solved 25 Years Ago
For those generally skeptical of Congress’ ability to make good policy, the existence of Section 230 in the 1996 Communications Decency Act evokes a…
News Release
Facebook’s Content Moderation Decisions Preferable to One-Size-Fits-All Government Regulation
Facebook announced today it suspended former President Donald Trump from the platform for two years retroactive to January 7, 2021. Responding to a ruling against…
Real Clear Policy
Government Regulation of App Stores Could Wind Up Costing Consumers
App stores are in the crosshairs of regulators around the world, threatening the privacy and security of consumers in jurisdictions throwing the red tape at…
Blog
Microsoft to Retire Internet Explorer: Lessons for Today’s Antitrust Cases
Microsoft just announced it will retire its Internet Explorer browser next year. This is the same program that was at the heart of an…
Blog
The Endless Frontier Act to Boost Science and Tech Can Mean Endless Regulation
Related to regulatory effects of mass spending on national plans and the deadweight costs of spending, are the distortions, diversion of resources, and…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter Regarding Wasteful RDOF Subsidies, Hamilton Place Strategies
Dear Ms. Dortch: The Commission adopted its Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (“RDOF”) order last year despite concerns that it would subsidize the construction and operation…
Blog
One of Google’s Antitrust Cases Dismissed, for Now
A District judge on Thursday dismissed a private antitrust case against Google brought by a group of advertisers. It does not affect separate cases…
Real Clear Policy
FCC Must Promote Competition Between 5G & Satellite-based Internet Providers
As the United States government seeks to expand broadband access for Americans, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) should allow competition between terrestrial 5G broadband and…
The American Conservative
Why Small Firms Sell Out
Among some conservatives’ main complaints about Big Tech is the way it acquires smaller competitors, stopping them from displacing them like Facebook displaced MySpace. The…
Blog
Why Policy Makers Should Consider Expanding Financing and Exit Options for Startups
Last month, the online chat startup Discord halted accepting bids for a potential acquisition. Suitors included Microsoft, which had offered to acquire the company…
Blog
Overboard over the Oversight Board
Yesterday’s decision by Facebook’s Oversight Board that the company was correct in restricting then-President Trump’s ability to post on January 7, 2021 and that…
News Release
Despite Recent Increase in Private Broadband Investment, President Biden Seeks Wasteful Taxpayer-Funded Subsidies
The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce will hold a hearing today at 11:30am on broadband access. The hearing is titled “Broadband…
News Release
EU Antitrust Action Against Apple – Bad for Trade, Bad for Consumers
The EU Commission declared today that “Apple has a monopoly” in the distribution of music streaming apps to owners of Apple devices, the upshot of…
Fox News
Hawley To Introduce Bill To ‘Bust Up’ Big Tech, Targeting Companies Like Google And Amazon
Fox News cites Director for the Center for Technology and Innovation Jessica Melugin and Senior Fellow Ryan Young on Hawley’s efforts to regulate the tech…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter Regarding App Store Regulation
View Full Document as PDF Dear Senator/Representative: We, the undersigned, oppose state regulations on online application distribution platforms, more commonly known as app…
News Release
Regulators Should Let Cryptocurrency Firms Follow in Coinbase Footsteps
The successful cryptocurrency exchange platform Coinbase is poised to go public on April 14 amid high anticipation. CEI Senior Fellow John Berlau urges federal…
Real Clear Policy
How to Expand Broadband Access Without Spending $100 Billion
The Biden administration thrust the issue of rural broadband into the spotlight when it released the $2 trillion “American Jobs Plan,” which …
News Release
Hawley Antitrust Plan Would Limit Innovation and Harm Consumers
Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) today touted a new proposal he calls a “trust busting plan” that calls for a new standard for antitrust intervention to…
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Biden’s $100 Billion Rural Broadband Plan Bets on Success of FCC Initiatives
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette cites Director of the Center for Technology and Innovation Jessica Melugin on Biden’s broadband plan: “Good intentions aside, it…
Blog
The UK Should Beware of Future Restrictions against UK-EU Data Flows
The British government must beware of future challenges to the United Kingdom’s ability to transfer data to and from the European Economic Area (EEA) due…
National Review
Should Social-Media Companies Be Considered ‘Common Carriers’?
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’s concurrence in Joseph Biden v. Knight First Amendment at Columbia University recommends regulating social-media platforms as if they were…
C-SPAN
VIDEO: CEI’s Jessica Melugin Joins “The Communicators” to Discuss Antitrust and More
Director of the Center for Technology and Innovation Jessica Melugin joined C-SPAN‘s “The Communicators” to discuss technology issues that included antitrust, social media content, and…
News Release
Supreme Court Decision Upholding Relaxed Media Ownership Rules a Win for Local News and Consumers
The United States Supreme Court today upheld a decision by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to relax media ownership rules, freeing up the industry…
The Wall Street Journal
Can Little Tech Save Us From Big Tech?
The Wall Street Journal cites Director of the Center for Technology and Innovation Jessica Melugin on social media platform regulations: Was there a hopeful note…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Expressing Serious Concern With H.R. 1082, “Sami’s Law”
The Honorable Nancy PelosiH-232, The CapitolWashington, D.C. 20515The Honorable Steny HoyerH-107 The CapitolWashington, D.C. 20515The Honorable Kevin McCarthyH-204, The CapitolWashington, D.C. 20515The Honorable Steve ScaliseH-148,…
Blog
Decentralization Offers a Way out of the Social Media Content Wars
Thursday brought another politically charged installment of “a tale of two hearings” about online content moderation in the House of Representatives. Republicans scolded big…
Small Business Advocate
AUDIO: How Much Does Private Crypto-Currency Threaten Sovereign States?
Senior Fellow John Berlau joins Jim Blasingame to debate the influence private cryptocurrencies could have on the marketplace, our relationship with government, and the viability…
Small Business Advocate
AUDIO: Dealing With the Reality of Digital Payments and Crypto-Currency
Senior Fellow John Berlau joins Jim Blasingame to discuss the difference between the government’s idea of a digital or crypto-currency and that of the private…
Fortune
Don’t Put Big Tech or Big Government in Charge of the Truth
The divide among Americans on a wide range of issues is being amplified by social media. Charges of misinformation and censorship online are raising the…
Blog
As California Goes on Regulation, so (Unfortunately) Goes the Nation
Last month, a federal judge upheld California’s net neutrality regulations. That led to AT&T’s announcement this week that they will no longer exempt…
Blog
Lawmakers Should Tread Carefully When Trying to Balance Privacy with Security
It’s been said that a compromise is the art of dividing a cake in such a way that everyone believes he has the biggest…
National Review
The Answer to Our Big Tech Problem Is Decentralization
Before the “great de-platforming” following the events at the Capitol on January 6, defenders of a laissez-faire approach to social media were able to tell those…
Real Clear Policy
Biden Administration Should Take a Restrained Approach to Fighting Disinformation
As the Biden administration counters foreign disinformation, it faces growing calls to impose stricter restrictions on social media and online platforms. While tech companies should…
National Interest
Why a Return to Net Neutrality Would Harm the Race to Adopt 5G
As President Joe Biden seeks to recalibrate U.S. foreign policy toward China and reestablish U.S. leadership, America needs to catch up with China in fifth-generation…
Blog
Why Facebook’s Antitrust Cases Should Be Dropped
Facebook filed today to dismiss antitrust lawsuits against it today by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and several state attorneys general. One of the…
Seattle TImes
Biden administration needs a more nuanced approach toward Chinese apps
As the Biden administration recalibrates its policies toward China, it should carefully balance economic and security interests in reviewing Chinese mobile applications, such as TikTok…
Blog
Virginia, Famed for Its Ham, Delivers a Turkey on Privacy
The Virginia House of Delegates and Senate recently passed consumer privacy legislation, the Virginia Consumer Protection Act. The bill has elements similar to its…
Letters
CEI Joins Coalition Letter: “Big Tech” Investigation in Texas Harms Consumers and Taxpayers
Dear Governor Abbott, Lt. Governor Patrick and Speaker Phelan: In January of 2020, the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank predicted, “While uncertainty is greater than normal,…
USA Today
Protecting Publius: Online Anonymity is Critical for Protecting Freedom to Dissent
The bipartisan loathing of Section 230, the liability shield that protects online platforms from being legally responsible for what their users post, has…
Blog
Proposed European Tech Regulations Will Backfire, Badly
The European Union recently proposed two major tech regulation bills aimed at America’s tech industry, the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and the Digital…
Blog
Why Repealing Section 230 Will Hurt Startups and Medium-Sized Online Businesses
As Democrats and Republicans seek to rein in Big Tech, Congress is reviewing legislation to repeal Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act (CDA),…
Real Clear Policy
Biden Administration Must Engage Private Sector on Cybersecurity
Since early last year, the coronavirus pandemic has presented a public health crisis so vast that it dominated the news and discussions around public policy.
News Release
CEI Paper Shows Antitrust Enthusiasts Misconstrue the Lessons from Past Cases
WASHINGTON, DC – Today’s advocates for a more expansive enforcement of antitrust laws – frequently referred to as devotees of “Hipster Antitrust” – often misleadingly…
Study
U.S. Antitrust’s Greatest Misses
Today’s advocates for expanding antitrust regulation often cite famous antitrust cases of the past to suggest that stricter antitrust enforcement can enhance consumer welfare,…
City Journal
What Was Amazon Waiting For?
January 20 was Inauguration Day. It was also the day that a major American employer offered to help in the Covid-19 vaccination effort. In a …
The Washington Times
Push To Break Up Big Tech Picks Up Bipartisan Steam Amid Conservative Crackdown
The Washington Times cites Director of the Center for Technology & Innovation Jessica Melugin on Parler’s antitrust case against Amazon: “If the…
Blog
The Danger in Blurring the Private and Public Boundaries with Government Regulation
The recent decisions of many technology companies to remove users and customers from their platforms have deeply divided Americans. Many Americans feel censored and discriminated…
Reason
Congress Targets Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google for Being Popular
Reason cites CEI’s Director of the Center for Technology & Innovation Jessica Melugin on the Department of Justice’s civil suit against Google.
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