When we do hear about what happens inside a tech company, it’s often because a Frances Haugen-type employee decides to leak it. The overall effect of that is to paint a highly selective, irregular picture of what’s happening inside the biggest platforms, said Nate Persily, a professor at Stanford Law School who also testified today.

“We shouldn’t have to wait for whistleblowers to whistle,” Persily said. “This type of transparency legislation is about empowering outsiders to get a better idea of what’s happening inside these firms.”

To date, much of the focus on regulating tech platforms has found members of Congress attempting to regulate speech, at both the individual and corporate level. Persily argued that starting instead with this kind of forced sunlight might be more effective.