Peter Thiel, Facebook’s first outside investor, once wrote: “Competition is for losers. If you want to create and capture lasting value, look to build a monopoly.” Executives at Facebook, Google and Amazon seem to have taken his blunt advice.

If only the Trump administration could be so clear when it comes to its stance on competition. Instead, it has sent a schizophrenic message, which means the few remaining companies with a chance to rival big tech have no way of knowing where the administration stands or what values it will enforce.

On the one hand, the F.C.C. has signaled it will eliminate net neutrality, the rule that ensures equal access to the internet for all websites. If this happens, internet service providers like Comcast, Verizon and AT&T will be able to charge extra fees for high-quality streaming and exclude certain content from the all-in data plans they offer. Critics say this move would be devastating to the websites and applications that can’t pay the fees.

On the other hand, just a day before the F.C.C. announcement, the Justice Department communicated starkly different values. Announcing its opposition to the proposed merger of Time Warner and AT&T, it used an argument based on the very kind of thinking that’s often used to defend net neutrality: The department made the case that if the merger were allowed to go through, AT&T might favor the Time Warner content it would own post-merger, to the disadvantage of rivals.