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 Foundation 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
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…
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…
Blog
Otherwise Objectionable episode 3: ‘Law and Disorder’
- By: Jessica Melugin
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…
Otherwise Objectionable episode 2: ‘The Dawn of the Internet’
- By: Jessica Melugin
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…
Otherwise Objectionable Podcast Episode 1: The Most Misunderstood Law on the Internet
- By: Jessica Melugin
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…
Op-Eds/Articles
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…
National Review
Please, Somebody Google ‘Hubris’
- By: Jessica Melugin
The pretense of knowledge is on full display in the Department of Justice’s proposed remedies for the Google trial. The government’s…
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
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…
Comments of the Competitive Enterprise Institute
September 26, 2023 RE: Premerger Notification; Reporting and Waiting Period Requirements Docket ID No.: FTC-2023-0040-0001 On behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI), we respectfully…
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,...