Senators don’t understand technology. How can they regulate it?

One of the few issues of increasing bipartisan agreement in U.S. politics is the supposed need for the federal government to “do something” to crack down on Big Tech. While issues with social media giants certainly do exist , Congress just offered us yet another reminder of why it can’t be trusted to regulate the tech sector.

During a Thursday Senate hearing on social media’s impact on teenagers, Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat, pursued a rather farcical line of questioning that quickly prompted viral ridicule.

“Will you commit to ending Finsta?” the senator asked Facebook Head of Global Safety Antigone Davis. (Instagram is owned by Facebook.)

For context, “Finsta” refers to when someone makes a separate, secondary Instagram account that they only allow a select few friends to follow, where they post candid or embarrassing posts diary-style. It’s simply a way some young people use Instagram, not an actual feature or anything built into the technology.

“Senator … we don’t actually do Finsta,” Davis explained. “What Finsta refers to is young people setting up accounts where they may want to have more privacy.”

“Finsta is one of your products or services,” Blumenthal falsely interjected. “We’re not talking here about Google or Apple … it’s Facebook, correct?”

“Finsta is slang for a type of account,” Davis again offered.

“OK. Will you end that type of account?” Blumenthal again interrupted.

Davis then tried to explain why that isn’t possible, but Blumenthal wasn’t happy. “I don’t think that’s an answer to my question,” he complained.

Perhaps it wasn’t, but that’s because the senator’s question is incoherent. It doesn’t make any sense. He clearly has no idea what a “Finsta” is and yet is grilling a Facebook executive on “ending” something that isn’t a service or product the company offers. It’s like demanding that phone companies “end” phone tag or prank calls.

Of course, Blumenthal is 75 years old. It’s eminently understandable that he wouldn’t really grasp how social media works. And he’s not alone.

Many of Blumenthal’s peers in the Senate and in the House have had similarly embarrassing moments of technological illiteracy caught on camera. As recently as 2015, Sens. Chuck Schumer and Lindsey Graham both admitted to barely even using email . In a hearing held last year, a congressman started grilling Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about censorship of Donald Trump Jr. — that happened on Twitter. Another congressman wanted the CEO of Google to explain why his campaign emails sometimes went to people’s spam filters.

This technological illiteracy isn’t in itself a big deal. The problem is that the senator and his other ancient colleagues in Congress think that despite their utter lack of comprehension of tech issues, they have the right and ability to dictate to companies what their practices ought to be. Indeed, prominent lawmakers from both parties have introduced bills to regulate, micromanage, and otherwise overrule tech companies.

But Congress cannot competently regulate things it doesn’t even begin to understand. And there’s perhaps no issue with which boomer legislators’ ignorance is more pronounced than Big Tech. If elderly elected officials such as Richard Blumenthal insist on writing rules for an industry they can barely comprehend, dysfunction is sure to ensue.

Brad Polumbo (@Brad_Polumbo ) is a libertarian-conservative journalist and a Washington Examiner contributor. Subscribe to his YouTube channel or email him at bradpolumbojournalism@gmail.com .

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