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"

Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institut (HBI)
Rothenbaumchaussee 36
20148 Hamburg
Germany

Last update: 20.02.2025

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

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 a publication
Publikation Conversational Atmosphere Report

Information Ecosystems and Troubled Democracy

Do information ecosystems weaken democracy and promote the viral spread of mis- and disinformation? In the report “Information Ecosystems and Troubled Democracy: A Global Synthesis of the State of Knowledge on New Media, AI and Data Governance”, an international team of researchers assesses the role of information ecosystems.

Cover of the Handbook Media and Communication Governance
Publikation accessible open access

Private Ordering of Media

In a handbook article, Tobias Mast, Matthias C. Kettemann and Wolfgang Schulz address the question of how media organizations and platform operators setprivate law through, for example, their terms and conditions.

Digitaler ahmmer au
Projekt Funded by Stiftung Mercator

Platform Democracy

How could "platform councils" or other institutions for integrating public interests into platform rule-making processes ensure that public interests and democratic values are taken into account? A new project is embarking on a search for global best practice models.

Lichtinstallation: Weiße Quader schweben in dunkelblauem Raum
Projekt Volkswagen Foundation Funds Joint Project

Informing Regulatory Reasoning on Algorithmic Systems in Societal Communication with STEAM

The project, which is located between media law and computer science, aims to use a new method to visualize the functioning of news distribution on digital platforms and thus offer media regulation opportunities for new regulatory approaches.

Mensch steht auf grauem Grund in der Mitte einer runden Spielfeldmarkierung. Er wirft einen langen Schatten.
Projekt Human in the Machine

Human In the Loop? Autonomy and Automation in Socio-Technical Systems

The research project Human in the Loop? investigates how human participation can improve automated decision-making processes.

Kunden an Blumenstand auf einem Markt
Projekt Project within the RISC

Integration-Related Remit and Functions of Public Service Media

Are public service media legally obliged to create social cohesion? And how is the integration-related performance of these media perceived?

People in a dark room with bright points of light
Projekt Monitoring and Improving the DSA

DSA Research Network

In the DSA Research Network, experts from all over Europe monitor the implementation of the Digital Services Act (DSA) and work together on reform proposals.

Nahaufnahme eines Netzes
Projekt Rules in Digital Communication Spaces

Norms of the Net

The framework project bundles research activities in the area of the structural perspective investigation of rule formation in digital communication spaces.

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