Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schulz is director of the Leibniz Institute of Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institut (HBI). He is also a professor for “Media Law and Public Law including Theoretical Foundations” at the Faculty of Law at Universität Hamburg. Furthermore, he was appointed director at Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society in Berlin in February 2012.
Wolfgang Schulz works on questions of communications constitutional law, media law and internet governance (with a focus on intermediaries), legal problems of algorithmic decision-making and the ethics of digitalization. He often works at the interface between law and other disciplines such as communication science and computer science and with a focus on the dimension of knowledge. He uses the functional comparison of different national approaches to solve problems. The transfer to politics at all levels (state, federal, EU, Council of Europe, UNESCO) plays an essential role in his work.
He was a member of the German Bundestag’s Enquete Commission “Internet and Digital Society” (2010 to 2013), Chairman of the Committee of Experts on Internet Intermediaries (MSI-NET) of the Council of Europe (2016-2017) and is Chairman of the Expert Committee “Communication and Information” of the German Commission for UNESCO (DUK) and thus also a member of the DUK Board. He also coordinates the Content Contact Group of the Internet & Jurisdiction Policy Network (INJ). Wolfgang Schulz is a member of the Executive Committee of the Global Network of Internet and Society Research Centers (NoC). He is also head of the Board of Directors of the Hamburg-based citizens’ and educational channel TIDE and a member of the Board of Trustees of the #UseTheNews initiative.
Background
Wolfgang Schulz studied law and journalism in Hamburg. Since 1997, he has taught the optional special subject on information and communication in the Department of Law at Universität Hamburg. He has also been a member of the state office for legal examinations since January 2000. In July 2009, he habilitated at the Faculty of Law at Universität Hamburg and was granted Venia Legendi in public law, media law and legal philosophy. Since November 2011, Wolfgang Schulz has the university professorship at Universität Hamburg. It is a joint placement of the University of Hamburg and the Hans-Bredow-Institut. The focus of this professorship lies on research at the Leibniz Institute for Media Research. Initially, he acted as deputy managing director as well as head of the Hans-Bredow-Institut’s area of media and telecommunications law. Since 2001, he has been a member of the board of directors.
![Screenshot of an article on the Verfassungsblog. Title of the article: “Ein rundfunkrechtliches ‘Solange’?” [An “As Long As" in Broadcasting Law?]](https://leibniz-hbi-de.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Verfassungsblog-Mast-Schulz-OeRR.jpg)
