All Research

All Research

First Amendment Fundamentals for Lawmakers as Courts Block Efforts to Protect Minors on Social Media
Article
AEIdeas

First Amendment Fundamentals for Lawmakers as Courts Block Efforts to Protect Minors on Social Media

Lawmakers considering bills to safeguard minors from ostensible harms linked to social media platforms should carefully review two recent federal court opinions declaring unconstitutional state laws imposing parental-consent, age-verification mandates.…

How Much Paperwork, How Little Privacy for the Innocent?
Article
AEIdeas

How Much Paperwork, How Little Privacy for the Innocent?

Justice Kavanaugh asked some important practical questions during oral argument in the birthright citizenship case in the Supreme Court last week. The executive order in dispute purports to deny citizenship…

The FTC’s Case Against Meta Looks Like Politics, Not Antitrust
Article
AEIdeas

The FTC’s Case Against Meta Looks Like Politics, Not Antitrust

The Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) antitrust case against Meta, Facebook’s parent company, is not really about protecting consumers or competition. It is an attempt to use regulatory power to dismantle…

Congressional Crossfire: How Competing App Store Bills Create an Impossible Mandate
Article
AEIdeas

Congressional Crossfire: How Competing App Store Bills Create an Impossible Mandate

In Congress’s latest attempt to regulate Big Tech, two Republican lawmakers have created a policy paradox. In an effort to shape the future of app stores, each piece of proposed…

Should NEPA Apply to BEAD’s Broadband Grants?
Article
AEIdeas

Should NEPA Apply to BEAD’s Broadband Grants?

A pivotal decision made by the Biden administration last year requires that broadband grants supported by the $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program be reviewed under the…

REAL ID Day After-Action Report: Stalemate
Article
AEIdeas

REAL ID Day After-Action Report: Stalemate

D-Day is more than just the glorious day that began the end of World War II. It is the general term for any major military operation, along with H-Hour and…

Loosening an Ownership Cap and Tightening a News Rule: Can Carr’s FCC Reconcile Its Objectives?
Article
AEIdeas

Loosening an Ownership Cap and Tightening a News Rule: Can Carr’s FCC Reconcile Its Objectives?

Can the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) square its statutory authority to ensure that over-the-air television broadcasters provide local content that serves the public interest with potentially eliminating a federal rule…

The FTC Is Trying to Rewrite the Story of Instagram
Article
AEIdeas

The FTC Is Trying to Rewrite the Story of Instagram

Every startup story is a mosaic of choices, chances, and context. But in its lawsuit against Meta, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has adopted a sharply linear view of innovation—one where the…

Agents, Access, and Advantage: Lessons from Meta’s LlamaCon
Article
AEIdeas

Agents, Access, and Advantage: Lessons from Meta’s LlamaCon

Meta was kind enough to extend an invitation for me to attend its inaugural LlamaCon—a one-day developer summit devoted to the Llama family of open-source large language models. It offered…

Where in the Supply Chain Should Minors’ Access to Internet Content Be Managed?
Article
AEIdeas

Where in the Supply Chain Should Minors’ Access to Internet Content Be Managed?

A new bill, the App Store Accountability Act, puts the onus of age verification on app stores as a means of promoting online safety for children. According to proponent Senator…

Trump’s Retributive Attacks on Speech and Press Rights Overshadow His Early Righteous Embrace of Online Free Expression
Article
AEIdeas

Trump’s Retributive Attacks on Speech and Press Rights Overshadow His Early Righteous Embrace of Online Free Expression

On his first day back in the Oval Office, Donald Trump took a large, righteous step toward promoting a cherished First Amendment value by signing Executive Order (EO) 14149. Titled…

China’s AI Strategy: Adoption Over AGI
Article
AEIdeas

China’s AI Strategy: Adoption Over AGI

Last week, the Center for a New American Security held an event on “The Stakes of Sino-American AI Competition.” Near the end, audience member Harry Krejsa of the Carnegie Mellon…

Human Ambition and Natural Beauty Meet in the City
Article
The Dispatch

Human Ambition and Natural Beauty Meet in the City

A couple of weeks ago, the climate writer Robinson Meyer posted something that’s been on my mind. It gets at something fundamental about the infrastructure of American cities. This is a trite…

The DOJ’s Google Remedy Will Kill, Not Spur, Competition
Article
AEIdeas

The DOJ’s Google Remedy Will Kill, Not Spur, Competition

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has won its case against Google Search. Now it’s proposing remedies that will hinder competition. But isn’t antitrust supposed to do the opposite? One remedy…

Policing News, Policing DEI: The FCC’s Shifting Priorities Erode Its Credibility
Article
AEIdeas

Policing News, Policing DEI: The FCC’s Shifting Priorities Erode Its Credibility

My colleague Mark Jamison recently observed that “[f]or decades, well-functioning independent regulatory agencies have been a stabilizing force.” Though primarily addressing the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) following President Donald Trump’s…