Rebecca Kern is a tech policy reporter for POLITICO. She covers the battles over online speech, misinformation and content moderation along with more general technology policy on Capitol Hill.

Rebecca came to POLITICO from Bloomberg Government, where she covered privacy, tech firms’ liability shield, cybersecurity and telecommunications. She also helped launch Bloomberg Government’s Tech and Cyber Briefing newsletter. She previously covered energy policy for Bloomberg Industry Group — tracking the policy and personality shifts between energy secretaries Ernest Moniz and Rick Perry — and reported on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission during the Obama and Trump administrations. Her reporting also took her to Puerto Rico to cover the recovery of the electric grid and the potential for renewables after Hurricane Maria — where she unexpectedly met Ricky Martin.

Throughout her reporting career, Rebecca also covered consumer product safety, highway safety, health care and education with work published in outlets including U.S. News and World Report, USA Today and The Washington Post. She graduated from American University with a journalism degree.

A Southerner at heart, Rebecca hails from a long line of Tennesseans. While she may have lost her Southern twang over the years she’s lived in D.C., she dares anyone to test her Dolly Parton knowledge.