Prof. Dr. Matthias C. Kettemann, LL.M. (Harvard)

Senior Researcher "Regulatory Structures and the Emergence of Rules in Online Spaces"

Prof. Dr. Matthias C. Kettemann, LL.M. (Harvard) is head of the research program “Regulatory Structures and the Emergence of Rules in Online Spaces” at the Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institut (HBI). His team investigates the rules under which new forms and practices of social understanding and self-assurance emerge in digital communication spaces, and especially in social networks.

After studying law in Graz, Geneva and as a Fulbright and Boas scholar at Harvard School, he completed his doctorate with a thesis on the legal status of the individual in international law. In 2014, he was called to the Cluster of Excellence “The Formation of Normative Orders” at Goethe University Frankfurt as a postdoctoral researcher, where he habilitated with Prof. Kadelbach and Prof. Vesting at the Institute for Public Law at Goethe University Frankfurt am Main. His thesis was on the normative order of the internet and he was awarded the authorisation to teach international law, internet law and legal theory. After substitutions in Heidelberg and Jena, he followed the call to the professorship for innovation, theory and philosophy of law at the Institute for Theory and Future of Law at the University of Innsbruck in autumn 2021.

Other Activities

In addition to his work at the HBI, Matthias C. Kettemann is a research group leader for “Global Constitutionalism and the Internet” and head of the research project “The Public International Law of the Internet” at the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society, Berlin. He is also Director of Innsbruck Quantum Ethics Lab; Rapporteur for Quantum Computing at the UNESCO World Ethics Commission (COMEST) and a member of the board of directors and research group leader for “Platform and Content Governance” at the Sustainable Computing Lab, Vienna University of Economics and Business.

Contact information

Prof. Dr. Matthias C. Kettemann, LL.M. (Harvard)

Senior Researcher "Regulatory Structures and the Emergence of Rules in Online Spaces"

We are no longer located at Rothenbaumchaussee 36. You can reach us temporarely at the following address:

Leibniz Institute for Media Research, Hans-Bredow-Institut
c/o betahaus | Gänsemarkt
Gänsemarkt 43
20354 Hamburg

Last update: 28.07.2025

Works by Prof. Dr. Matthias C. Kettemann, LL.M. (Harvard)

Cover des Buchs "Recht der Digitalisierung"
Publikation Available Open Access

Law of Digitalization

Can the right legal framework meet the central challenges of digitization? This volume, edited by Prof. Dr. Matthias C. Kettemann, explores important new areas of law, the regulation of AI, the role of digital services, and the characteristics of effective technology policy and sensible innovation law.

Screenshot der ersten "Seite" des Artikels auf dem Verfassungsblog
Publikation Article on Verfassungsblog

DSA Enforcement by the EU Commission

The problematic role of the European Commission in enforcing the Digital Services Act (DSA) and possible alternatives are the focus of a blog post published by Jan-Ole Harfst, Dr. Tobias Mast, and Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schulz on 16 July 2025 on the Verfassungblog.

Cover der Zeitschrift
Publikation Recently Published

Community Data Trust for Sensitive Data

Jan Rau, Moritz Fürneisen, and Gregor Wiedemann co-developed the concept of community data stewardship to facilitate the collaborative creation and utilization of sensitive data in communication science. By using the example of research into right-wing extremist online communication, they demonstrate how community data stewardship can be structured.

Cover der Zeitschrift UFITA
Publikation Recently Published

On the Public Value of Public Service Media

"What Can Audience Research findings tell us about the public value of public service media?" This question explored by Prof. Dr. Uwe Hasebrink and PD Dr. Jan-Hinrik Schmidt, who published their insights in the issue 2/2024 of the journal UFITA.

Cover der Broschüre zum 75. Geburtstag
Publikation Brochure Available for Download

Facets of 75 Years Hans-Bredow-Institut

With this brochure. we take a look at the institute's development since 1950. While we do not claim to provide a complete history, we aim to highlight some of the institute's unique characteristics, showcasing moments in the past when these features were particularly evident.

Altes Zeitungsfoto von Hans-Bredow,
Beitrag HBI 75: Founding History

How the Institute Got Its Name

On May 30, 1950, the Hans Bredow Institute was founded by the former Northwest German Broadcasting Corporation (the predecessor of NDR and WDR) and the University of Hamburg. This blog post describes the history of its founding and explains how the institute got its name.

Cover von Heft 2/2025 M&K
Publikation Recently Published

M&K 2/2025 Special Issue “Media Structures Revisited”

Issue 2/2025 of Media & Communication Science has been published as a special issue entitled “Media Structures Revisited,” edited by Josef Seethaler, Marlis Prinzing, Petra Herczeg, and Mark Eisenegger. The entire issue is available open access via the Nomos eLibrary.

Cover der Publikation "
Publikation Research Project on Misinformation and Disinformation

Destructive Discourses

The final research report, jointly written as part of the NOTORIOUS research project, looks at how climate-related misinformation and disinformation spreads across different platforms. At the HBI, Philipp Keßling, Dr. Felix Victor Münch, Dr. Gregor Wiedemann, and Mattes Ruckdeschel worked on the report.

Bild des 1600 Seiten starken Kommnatrs
Publikation The most comprehensive HBI publication ever!

DSA DMA Commentary

It is the most extensive publication the HBI has ever produced: the 1600-page commentary on the Digital Services Act (DSA) and the Digital Markets Act (DMA), edited by Tobias Mast, Matthias C. Kettemann, Stephan Dreyer and Wolfgang Schulz. In addition to several current and former researchers from the institute, almost 30 other experts from Germany, Austria and Switzerland were recruited for the commentary project.

Cover des Kurzgutachtens
Publikation Brief Expert Opinion

State Treaty on the Reform of the Procedure for Setting the Broadcasting License Fee

Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schulz and Dr. Tobias Mast have provided their expert opinion on the State Treaty on the Reform of the Procedure for Setting the Broadcasting Fee (RFinÄStV). At the end of 2004, the federal states had decided to separate the pillars of the reform of public broadcasting and to adopt the draft reform first and to continue the process of reforming the procedure for setting the licence fee separately.

Cover of the first volume of the EU publication series

The Protection of Freedom of Expression in the Digital Services Act

The publication "Der Schutz der Meinungsäusserungsfreiheit im Digital Services Act" [The Protection of Freedom of Expression in the Digital Services Act], to which Matthias C. Kettemann contributed significantly, is the first in a series of KommAustria publications on the DSA, which are intended to provide a basis for understanding the DSA and contribute to a more differentiated discussion.

Cover of Working Paper No. 76
Publikation Project Findings Available for Download

Between Curiosity and Skepticism: Use and Perception of Generative AI for Information Search in Germany

The research project "Generative Artificial Intelligence for Information Navigation", funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), investigated to what extent, for what purposes and for what reasons the German population uses generative artificial intelligence in applications such as ChatGPT or Google Gemini. The findings can be downloaded as a working paper.

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