Advertising technology companies like Facebook and Twitter have said they will make drastic improvements to safety and security of their platforms — but they may face regulation from Congress anyway, two technology industry veterans said.

“My guess it will be a mix of some self-regulation with the big major players, Facebook and Google, in particular, taking more of a lead in putting the rules of the road in place. But also there will likely be either legislation or regulation,” AOL co-founder Steve Case told CNBC’s “Squawk Alley” on Wednesday. Case now runs Revolution, a Washington, D.C.-based investment firm that focuses on American entrepreneurs, mostly outside of Silicon Valley.

“If the companies had acted earlier they probably would have been able to put in place self-regulation a year or two ago,” he said.

The remarks came as lawyers from major technology companies testified before Congressional committees. Representatives from Facebook, Twitter and Google were grilled by senators on Tuesday and Wednesday, as regulators try to understand the impact of Russian state actors on the U.S. election.

Russian state actors published about 80,000 posts on Facebook and about 126 million Americans may have seen the posts, which touched on inflammatory political issues. NBC News reported that Twitter found 36,746 automated accounts linked to Russia between September 1, 2016 and November 15, 2016. That resulted in 1.4 million tweets that were seen 288 million times, two sources told NBC News on Monday.

Jason Calacanis, who runs media start-up Inside.com, said that he thinks there is a 5 to 10 percent chance right now that the government “stands up to” technology companies, but Wednesday’s hearings could be a tipping point.

“It will have to be the regulators that do this, it will have to be a huge outcry,” technology investor Calacanis told CNBC’s “Fast Money: Halftime Report” on Wednesday.

“No consumer is going to give up Google, they have a monopoly position. No consumer is giving Facebook, Instagram WhatsApp — they have a monopoly position. And that is why this is such an important issue that the government takes into consideration, which is that consumers are locked into these platforms. …That’s why government intervention is going to happen here.”

Calacanis said that both Barack Obama’s administration and Donald Trump’s administration have stayed away from regulating Silicon Valley up to this point, which has been great for investors.

“They are the greatest investment you could ever make because they are marauding capitalists who don’t care where the chips fall, up until this point,” Calacanis said. “They can run amok without any sanctions.”

But the testimony came from lawyers, not CEOs, a move Calacanis called a “huge strategic mistake” that was embarrassing and disrespectful.

That’s not the only misstep that has snared these companies during their Congressional appearances, Calacanis said. Calacanis also pointed out that Facebook has promoted its ad targeting and influence when it comes to advertising, but underplayed its power in the political arena. A Google representative also shied away from describing Google as a media company, although it hosts content through YouTube. Calacanis pointed out that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has made time to meet with Chinese regulators and civilians across the country.

Facebook reports quarterly earnings after the bell, an event that typically includes the participation of the company’s CEO. Facebook has also said it will go on a massive hiring spree to deal with these issues.

“All Americans should be very troubled by Facebook’s cavalier response to what is a very serious issue,” Calacanis said. He added: “It’s just an absolute disgrace that [Mark Zuckerberg] didn’t show up for this.”