The Information Economy

Most users on social media have encountered toxic content: rude, disrespectful, or hostile posts or comments. A study using a browser extension estimates the effect of toxic content on user engagement and welfare.

Caio Mario S. Pereira Neto reflects on the discussions at the Stigler Center’s 2025 Antitrust and Competition Conference and addresses the problems that confront Brazil’s courts as they navigate the tradeoffs between removing disinformation that threatens electoral integrity and observing constitutional protections for freedom of expression.

In recent weeks, a spate of mergers has been announced in telecommunications markets. The activity endangers Americans’ access to affordable and reliable internet services. Rather than continue to depend on private companies to provide essential internet services, cities should look to the many communities that have provided significantly lower-cost and higher-quality public internet connectivity, writes Sean Gonsalves. 

In a new NBER working paper, John M. Barrios, Filippo Lancieri, Joshua Levy, Shashank Singh, Tommaso Valletti, and Luigi Zingales explore the impact of...

In the 1930s, staffers at the newly established Federal Communications Commission devised a novel rationale for limiting network power in radio, telephony, and the press. While much has changed since the “age of radio,” the concerns they raised inform the present-day debate over the control that social media platforms exert over public discourse, writes Richard R. John.

Joseph Price writes that how the court in the Meta antitrust case determines the relevant product market may have implications for merger activity among television broadcasters, who have similarly argued that the regulators and courts use outdated market definitions to block consolidation.

The following is the second part to the transcript of Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson’s keynote at the 2025 Stigler Center Antitrust and...

A new ProMarket survey of scholars reveals that while most view federal funding cuts under the Trump administration as a major threat to academic freedom, nearly half also see ideological bias within universities as a serious issue. The survey also found that many disagree with Columbia’s approach of capitulation to the Trump administration’s demands, and would prefer to see universities defend themselves in court or through collective action.

Andrey Mir writes that antitrust scholarship and enforcement seeking to break up platform monopolies overlook the benefits that these platforms provide because they are monopolies. He says the community must keep this in mind as it seeks to alleviate harms that any monopoly incurs to the economy.

The concentration of news media has spurred concerns about their ability to protect the marketplace of ideas integral to the functioning of democracy. Based on new research, Marcel Garz and Mart Ots discuss why media consolidation may not lead to lower journalistic quality but still affects society through a decline in local news and original content.