Wolfgang SchulzView profile
Professor
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schulz serves as Research Director at the Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) and holds a University Professorship in Media Law and Public Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Hamburg. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institut since 2001. His academic career spans over two decades at the University of Hamburg, where he has lectured since 1997 and received his Habilitation in 2009. Dr. Schulz's research focuses on Communications Constitutional Law, Media Law, and Internet Governance with special attention to intermediaries and algorithmic decision-making. His work takes an interdisciplinary approach at the intersection of law, communication studies, and computer science, emphasizing knowledge dimensions and functional comparison of national approaches. He frequently engages in policy transfer at regional, national, EU, Council of Europe, and UNESCO levels. His recent scholarly output shows a strong trend toward platform governance, particularly analyzing the Digital Services Act (DSA) implementation, human oversight in AI systems, and the ethics of digitalization. His publications span legal analysis, interdisciplinary research on algorithmic systems, and normative frameworks for democratic digital societies, with increasing emphasis on practical implementation of regulatory frameworks. UNESCO Chair on Freedom of Communication and Information Chairmanship of the Committee of Experts on Internet Intermediaries (MSI-NET) of the Council of Europe (2016-2017) Membership in the Enquete Commission of the German Bundestag on 'Internet and Digital Society' (2010-2013) Prof. Schulz actively promotes media literacy as board member of the German Commission for UNESCO and coordinator of the Content Contact Group of the Internet & Jurisdiction Policy Network. He chairs the board of the Hamburg Citizen and Education Channel TIDE and serves on the Executive Committee of the Global Network of Internet and Society Research Centers. His leadership extends to numerous research projects including the DSA research network, 'Human in the Loop,' and 'The Ethics of Digitalisation – From Principles to Practices,' demonstrating substantial grant acquisition and team management capabilities. His laboratory and research environment centers around the HIIG and Hans-Bredow-Institut, where he leads interdisciplinary teams working at the intersection of law, technology, and society. These teams collaborate internationally through networks like the Global Network of Internet and Society Research Centers, focusing on practical implementation of digital governance frameworks and ethical considerations in algorithmic systems.