Congress to Hold Hearings on Social Media, Big Tech Regulation Issues

The impact of social media and large technology companies on society has grown to the point that many in Congress feel that it is time to consider regulations to protect consumer privacy and defend against foreign disinformation. After the scandal created by the revelations that Cambridge Analytica misused the personal information of 87 million Facebook users, members of Congress began considering ways to rein in the unbridled power of social media companies and the companies known on Capitol Hill as Big Tech. To that end, Senator Mark Warner (D-VA), co-chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, put together a white paper that contains a list of 20 proposals for regulating social media companies and those big technology companies. Senator Warner discussed those proposals in a wide-ranging interview with eWEEK. Warner is a tech-savvy legislator with a background in communications.