Christian Ollig has successfully defended his dissertation on the topic “European Platform Constitutions – The Constitutionalization of Digital Communication Spaces through Art. 14 Para. 4 Digital Services Act”. We congratulate him warmly on this achievement and are very happy for him!
The dissertation was supervised by Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schulz (left in the picture).
In his dissertation, Christian Ollig examines the regulation of digital platforms by the European Union. He develops an innovative understanding according to which platform companies are directly bound by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union – via a reference in the Digital Services Act (DSA). The DSA marks a fundamental change in the understanding of the roles of state and private actors. Christian Ollig shows that the traditional separation between these actors is becoming increasingly less important in the digital space – a process he describes as “hybridization.” His doctoral thesis provides a new perspective on key challenges of platform regulation, particularly with regard to global companies operating in the European Union and Germany that have significant influence on public opinion.
The publication of the dissertation is planned for the first half of 2025.
Christian Ollig has been working as a research assistant at the Chair of Media Law and Public Law including its Legal Theoretical Foundations at the Law Faculty of Universität Hamburg since October 2021. He supports Prof. Dr. Schulz in research and teaching and coordinates the work between Universität Hamburg and the Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institut. He studied law at the Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, the Université de Cergy-Pontoise and the College of Europe in Bruges (LL.M.). His studies were supported by the German National Academic Foundation, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Franco-German University.