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Leibniz Media Lunch Talks

At the Leibniz Media Lunch Talk, researchers present current topics, preliminary findings from their research projects or doctoral theses in a relaxed atmosphere. The Lunch Talks take place online via Zoom. After registering, you will receive the dial-in data by e-mail shortly before the event begins.

You are welcome to bring your own lunch and enjoy it during the talk. Please register for the events.
Photo by Gabrielle Henderson on Unsplash
 

28 February 2023, 12:00-1:00 p.m., online event via Zoom, you will receive the dial-in data by e-mail after registering for the event.

The Diaspora Riddle. Studying Cross-Lingual Information Exchange

We welcome Magdalena H. Góralska to this Leibniz Media Lunch Talk. She is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Warsaw and guest researcher at HBI’s Media Research Methods Lab. Magdalena H. Góralska will talk about the dynamics of information sharing across languages by the members of the Polish diaspora in the US and Germany.

Dr. Gregor Wiedemann will provide the introduction. The event will be held in English.
 

About the Presentation

While the internet is not exactly limited by state boundaries, it stays divided into language zones. Online spaces based on German, Polish or Mandarin remain otherwise separate, that is, until a speaker of either language translates a piece of information, bringing it from one linguistic space to another. Such sharing of news takes place very frequently and is traditionally mediated, for example, by foreign media correspondents. In the digital age, the role of such intermediaries has also been taken over by regular internet users, who frequent more than one language-bound online space. In this talk, Magdalena Góralska presents the results of her work aimed at understanding the dynamics of information sharing across languages by the members of the Polish diaspora in the US and Germany. She is using the example of Lyme disease (borreliosis) to present a mix-method approach to studying such cross-lingual information exchange. 
 

About Magdalena H. Góralska

Magdalena H. Góralska is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Warsaw, researching how digital communication influences medical controversies, creating what she calls digitally induced distrust. 

more about the event
 

23 February 2023, 12:00-1:00 p.m., online event via Zoom, you will receive the dial-in data by e-mail after registering for the event.

Hardly Law or Hard Law?
Investigating Codes of Conduct and their Normative Repercussions in the EU’s ICT Policy

We welcome Carl Vander Maelen to this Leibniz Media Lunch Talk. He is PhD researcher at Ghent University and research fellow at the HBI. In his talk, he explores the similarities and differences between GDPR codes and DSA codes and casts light on their normative repercussions in the EU’s ICT policy. 

Martin Fertmann will provide the introduction. The event will be held in English. 
 

About the Presentation

The EU increasingly involves private actors in its ICT policy. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) tasks private actors with developing codes of conduct to specify and implement the GDPR (articles 40-41). The upcoming Digital Services Act (DSA) continues that trend. It states in article 45 that codes should “contribute to the proper application” of the DSA and that very large online platforms (VLOPs) must at least annually audit their compliance with codes (article 37.1.b). The DSA only enters into application in 2024, but codes are already circulating. The ‘2022 Strengthened Code of Practice on Disinformation’ states that it “aims to become a Code” under the DSA. The ‘Code of conduct on countering illegal hate speech online’ may follow suit. This talk will explore the similarities and differences between GDPR codes and DSA codes, and cast light on their normative repercussions – particularly regarding accountability.
 

About Carl Vander Maelen

Carl Vander Maelen is PhD researcher at Ghent University and during February 2023 research fellow at the HBI. His PhD thesis is entitled ‘Regulating global actors through the use of alternative regulatory instruments: an analysis of the extent to which EU codes of conduct contribute to the fragmentation or harmonisation of data protection standards’. 

more about the event
 

7 February 2023, 12:00-1:00 p.m., online event via Zoom, you will receive the dial-in data by e-mail after registering for the event.

Regulation of Hate Speech and Disinformation on the Internet

At this Leibniz Media Lunch Talk we welcome Prof. Dr. Mathias Hong. In his lecture, he will talk about the framework of fundamental rights for the regulation of hate speech and disinformation on the internet. He will compare the fundamental rights systems in Germany, Europe and the United States of America.

Dr. Tobias Mast will provide the introduction. The lecture will be held in German. 
 

About the Presentation

How does freedom of expression as an equal and positive freedom shape the regulation of hate speech and disinformation online? How can harmful speech be countered, the equal dignity of all and the general right of personality be protected, and democracy be defended against populist and autocratic attacks without sacrificing freedom of thought and expression? The lecture will examine the answers to these questions provided by the fundamental rights systems in Germany, Europe and the United States of America.
 

About Mathias Hong

Prof. Dr. Mathias Hong has been Professor of Public Law at the University of Public Administration Kehl since March 2020. From 2005 to 2008, he was a research assistant at the Federal Constitutional Court, and in 2016 he completed his habilitation at the Faculty of Law at the University of Freiburg.

more about the event

 

26 January 2023, 12:00-1:00 p.m., online event via Zoom, you will receive the dial-in data by e-mail after registering for the event.

Mediatised communities of Young People

This Leibniz Media Lunch Talk is hosted by the Hamburg section of the Research Institute Social Cohesion (RISC)Prof. Dr. Sonja Ganguin and Dr. Johannes Gemkow work at the RISC Leipzig location at the Institute of Communication and Media Studies, University of Leipzig. In their talk, they look at mediatised communalisations of young people as a reference point of social cohesion.  
 
PD Dr. Jan-Hinrik Schmidt will provide the introduction. The lecture will be held in German. 
 

About the Presentation

Mediatised communities form a reference point of social cohesion. They are characterised by a subjective sense of belonging and distinction, collective practices and systems of symbols. Like the target group of youth, these forms of community are by no means homogeneous but rather particular. Mediatised communities have effects on bonding, bridging and linking capital under specific first conditions. An important question is how mediatised communities produce social capital as a cultural crystallisation point. The focus is on media socialisation, (political) identity and polarisation as well as on already existing and necessary media-critical competences. 
 

About our Speakers

Prof. Dr. Sonja Ganguin is Professor of Media Literacy and Appropriation Research at the Institute of Communication and Media Studies as well as Director of the Center for Media and Communication (ZMK) at the University of Leipzig. Her research to date has been shaped by two perspectives. These include the study of media competence, especially those key qualifications that give rise to the sovereign and critically reflexive actions of subjects in relation to media content. Furthermore, she is interested in the analysis of processes of social change in digital learning worlds.

Dr. Johannes Gemkow is a research associate at the Research Institute Social Cohesion (RISC) and teaches at the Chair of Media Literacy and Appropriation Research at the University of Leipzig. His current research focuses on social media, populism and youth, media and information literacy and mediatisation as well as qualitative social research. His current project at the RISC is dedicated to researching young people's experiences of populism on social media. 

more about the event
 

30 August 2022, 12:00-1:00 p.m., online event via Zoom, you will receive the dial-in data by e-mail after registering for the event.

State Responsibility in the Use of Non-Transparent Algorithms

At this Leibniz Media Lunch Talk we welcome Daniel Busche, research assistant at the Chair of Public Law at the University of Düsseldorf. In his presentation, he will talk about "Staatliche Verantwortung beim Einsatz intransparenter Algorithmen" [State Responsibility in the Use of Non-Transparent Algorithms].

Dr. Tobias Mast will provide the introduction. The lecture will be held in German. 
 

About the Presentation

Complex algorithms are commonly perceived by the public as a non-transparent "black box". This perception gives rise to the fear that the sovereign use of algorithms is accompanied by a loss of human influence and that humans become mere objects of algorithmically controlled decisions. In contrast, this presentation shows that the importance of transparency even in the sovereign use of algorithms tends to be overestimated. Other technical possibilities should be considered in order to guarantee the reliable functioning of such algorithms. It should also be remembered that human decision-making as a standard of comparison is itself characterised by intransparency.
 

About Daniel Busche 

Daniel Busche studied law in Münster and Lisbon as a scholarship holder of the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes – German Academic Scholarship Foundation. After successfully completing his first state examination at the Higher Regional Court of Hamm, he completed his legal traineeship at the German Embassy in Washington DC, at Noerr LLP in Düsseldorf and at the Federal Constitutional Court. He currently works as a research assistant at the Chair of Public Law (Professor Dr Lothar Michael) in Düsseldorf and supervises the accompanying course "Rechtsfragen der künstlichen Intelligenz" [Legal Issues of Artificial Intelligence]. He is also a member of the Heinrich Heine Center for Artificial Intelligence. His doctorate, which is about to be completed, is funded by the Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes – German Academic Scholarship Foundation and deals with questions of administrative automation at the interface of law and technology.

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21 June 2022, 12:00-1:00 p.m., online event via Zoom, you will receive the dial-in data by e-mail after registering for the event.

Communication and Cohesion

The Hamburg section of the Research Institute Social Cohesion will host the next Leibniz Media Lunch Talk. Dr. Jakob Hartl, researcher at the Research Institute Social Cohesion (FGZ) in Halle (Saale) and Visiting Fellow at the HBI, will explore the question of how media work and consumption contribute to remembering and experiencing cohesion in local societies.
 
PD Dr. Jan-Hinrik Schmidt will provide the introduction. The lecture will be held in German. 
 

About the Presentation

According to Maurice Halbwachs, individual memories of events of strong or weak social cohesion are to be understood as objects of collective memory. If this collective memory in its relation to groups and interactions can still be understood as communicative memory, it is transformed into permanent, cultural memory through its documentation. This documentation work is carried out by memory agents, especially journalists, who thus become, among other things, actors in the politics of memory. Therefore, the question arises how media work and consumption contribute to remembering and experiencing cohesion in local societies. The Lunch Talk will approach this question with new data from the FGZ regional panel.
 

About Jakob Hartl

Jakob Hartl graduated from the University of Vienna with a degree in sociology, philosophy and politics and obtained a PhD from the University of Bristol in 2020 for his thesis on the political implications of young people’s experiences of precarisation. Since 2021, he is a research fellow at the Research Institute Social Cohesion (RISC) in Halle (Saale). His research focus lies on the multi-method intersections of social structures and memory structures as well as on the politics of social inequality, particularly from a spatial perspective.

more about the event
 

14 May 2022, 12.30-13.30 p.m., online event via Zoom, you will receive the dial-in data by e-mail after registering for the event.

On Robot Colleagues and Software Stories. Cultural Techniques of Knowing and Unknowing the Algorithm

For this Leibniz Media Lunch Talk, we welcome Prof. Dr. Anne Kaun. She will talk about cultural techniques of knowing and unknowing the algorithm. 

Dr. Sascha Hölig will provide the introduction. The event will be held in German. 
 

About the Presentation

Algorithms and systems for automated decision making are often presented as complex and difficult to understand. However, lay users are developing mundane ways of relating to complex technologies. These ways of developing relationships with technologies can be considered as cultural techniques of knowing and unknowing algorithms. Cultural techniques capture both practices and technologies. Drawing on different projects, Anne Kaun will outline a rough typology of cultural techniques of knowing and unknowing algorithms that includes narrative, visual and political practices. The aim is to integrate analyses of technological artefacts with the analysis of cultural practices that emerge in relation to these artefacts.
 

About Anne Kaun 

Anne Kaun is Professor in Media and Communication Studies at Södertörn University, Sweden. Her research is concerned with media and political activism and the role of technology for political participation in the current media ecology and from a historical perspective. She is currently studying the consequences of automation in welfare institutions. Her research has appeared in among others International Journal of Communication, New Media & Society, Media, Culture & Society, Convergence and Culture Machine. In 2016, she published her book Crisis and Critique with Zed Books and is currently finalizing her co-authored monography Prison Media (with Fredrik Stiernstedt).

more about the event

 

7 June 2022, 12:00-1:00 p.m., online event via Zoom, you will receive the dial-in data by e-mail after registering for the event.

Communication and Cohesion

The Hamburg section of the Research Institute Social Cohesion will host the next Leibniz Media Lunch Talk. Daniel Stegmann, research associate at the Department for Communication at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, will discuss a framework that can be used to test the integration function of the media empirically.
 
PD Dr. Jan-Hinrik Schmidt will provide the introduction. The lecture will be held in German. 
 

About the Presentation

The question of social cohesion is one of the defining issues of the last few years. In this context, a key role is attributed to the media through their integrative function: It is assumed that the common use of media brings society together whereas, negatively turned, a fragmentation of media use in the high-choice media environment holds a substantial potential for division. Considering the postulated immense importance of media for society, it is surprising that there is a lot of theoretical work on the integrative role of media, but only few that systematically test this assumption empirically. In the presentation, a framework will be presented with which the integrative function of the media can be tested empirically.
 

About Daniel Stegmann

Daniel Stegmann has been a research assistant at the Department for Communication at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz since January 2020, where he conducts research on the topics of the power of opinion and diversity, fragmentation and media trust. He is writing his dissertation on the question of what role the media play in social cohesion. 

more about the event
 

31 May 2022, 12.30-13.30 p.m., online event via Zoom, you will receive the dial-in data by e-mail after registering for the event.

Inclusion and Exclusion in Social Media Governance

For this Leibniz Media Lunch Talk we welcome Rachel Griffin und Naomi Appelman. In their presentations they will talk about "Inclusion and Exclusion in Social Media Governance". 

Martin Fertmann will provide the introduction. The event will be held in English.


About the Presentations

Rachel Griffin: Rethinking Rights in Social Media Governance: Human Rights, Ideology and Inequality

This talk aims to question the dominance of human rights as the primary normative framework for EU social media law and academic critiques thereof, focusing particularly on their usefulness in addressing structural social inequalities in the media. As a legal framework, human rights fail to address collective issues like platforms’ influence on culture and social norms, and favour individualistic remedies like content removal appeals, which overlook collective interests and cannot even offer effective, equal protection to individuals. In political discourse, the individualistic and seemingly apolitical language of human rights can legitimise corporate activities, while downplaying questions about the political economy of this privatised, concentrated, advertiser-funded industry.
 

Naomi Appelman: Content Moderation through an Agonistic Lens: Contesting Online Exclusion

The centralised control that platforms have over online speech and the disparate effects of their content moderation policies on vulnerable groups have proven to be a persistent societal challenge. This talk will use agonistic democratic theory as a lens to analyse content moderation and chart out new directions for European regulation of online speech. The main claim that follows from this agonistic lens is that in order to minimise online exclusion and to democratise content moderation, these sociotechnical systems should be made more contestable. How people can concretely contest content moderation systems will be discussed based on a more detailed analysis of the power structures present on these platforms.
 

About the Speakers

Rachel Griffin is a PhD candidate and lecturer in law at Sciences Po. Her research focuses on European social media regulation and its implications for structural social inequalities. Her research draws on a range of interdisciplinary literature to understand how structural inequalities manifest in the context of social media, and is informed by perspectives from political economy, critical race theory, and queer and feminist legal theory. She also works as a research assistant at the Digital, Governance & Sovereignty Chair within Sciences Po’s School of Public Affairs, and teaches a course on social media law at Sciences Po Reims.

Naomi Appelman is a PhD researcher at the Institute for Information Law (IViR) of the University of Amsterdam and a visiting researcher at the HIIG focussing on online speech regulation and platform governance. She has studied both law (majoring in information and media law) and political philosophy (majoring in democratic theory and STS) at the University of Amsterdam as well as briefly at Keio University, Tokyo. Her interdisciplinary PhD research is on the contestability of algorithmic online speech governance. She combines information law with political philosophy (agonistic democratic theory) to asks how European law should facilitate the contestability of the automated content moderation systems governing online speech. Further, Naomi has previously done volunteer work at a digital rights NGO and is one of the founders of the NGO Racism and Technology Center.

Rachel Griffin and Naomi Appelman are participants in the HBI-GIG-ARTS Emerging Scholars Network, an initiative launched by the HBI to promote young scholars and build networks among doctoral students whose submissions were accepted for this year's GIG-ARTS conference. The network is coordinated by Martin Fertmann.

more about the event
 

17 May 2022, 12.30-13.30 p.m., online event via Zoom, you will receive the dial-in data by e-mail after registering for the event.

Procedural Regulation of Digital Platforms

For this Leibniz Media Lunch Talk, we welcome Torben Klausa, doctoral student at the Faculty of Law at Bielefeld University and Visiting Fellow at the HBI. In his lecture, he will talk about procedural regulation of digital platforms.
 
Prof. Dr. Matthias C. Kettemann will provide the introduction. The lecture will be held in German. 
 

About the Presentation

Legislators in Germany and Europe are desperately seeking rules for online platforms that can curb dangerous content and developments without harming freedom of expression. Methods of procedural regulation are increasingly coming into focus. These give Facebook and other platforms a free hand in setting their own rules while making them much more accountable for enforcing them. What matters is not what the platforms delete, but rather how they do it. Is this the new gold standard of platform regulation? Or is it the final capitulation of regulators to the power of digital platforms? This lunchtalk looks for answers in court decisions and regulatory reforms, from NetzDG to DSA.
 

About Torben Klausa

Does the state have a duty to regulate digital platforms? This question is the focus of Torben Klausa's research. He is a doctoral student at the Faculty of Law at Bielefeld University and a visiting researcher at the Social Science Research Center Berlin. In addition, he reports on digital policy issues as a journalist for the Tagesspiegel. In his doctoral thesis with the title "Die dienende Freiheit sozialer Netzwerke" [The serving freedom of social networks], he examines the possible constitutional duty of the state to contain social networks in terms of media law. Previously, he studied law, political science and public policy in Bonn, Washington, D.C., and Berlin and worked, among other things, in the German Bundestag and at the digital association Bitkom on political issues of digitalisation. Torben Klausa will be a Visiting Fellow at the HBI in May 2022.

more about the event
 

4 November 2021, 12.30-13.30 p.m., online event via Zoom, you will receive the dial-in data by e-mail after registering for the event.

Power, Purpose and Political Communication: The Impact of Digital Media on Global Risk Perception and the Strategic Use of Networked Information in International Relations

For the next Leibniz Media Lunch Talk we welcome Dr. Jan-Henrik Petermann, news journalist at Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa). In his talk, he will report on his current habilitation project on the "Impact of Digital Media on Global Risk Perception and the Strategic Use of Networked Information in International Relations“.

PD Dr. Jan-Hinrik Schmidt introduces the event. The lecture will be held in German. 

About the Presentation

Over the past decade, scholars and practitioners alike have witnessed a number of profound shifts in global political communication. Both national governments and international institutions as well as journalists specializing in foreign affairs reporting have increasingly been making use of digital
networks as a means to set news agendas. Familiar though these developments may seem to be, academic analyses still have to catch up with this empirical trend – particularly in terms of leaders’ motivations underlying interactive crisis communication in inter-state relations. If we accept the assumption that practices like everyday Twitter usage by a US president, virtual rallies by the climate movement or video streams by conspiracists during the COVID-19 pandemic constitute a novel kind of political communication: How do strategies translate into speech acts? To which effect? And is our optimistic notion of medialized communication strengthening democracy still warranted unconditionally today?

About Jan-Henrik Petermann

Dr. Jan-Henrik Petermann is economic correspondent at Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa). Previously, he worked as chief of staff at Spiegel Online in Hamburg and as an editor at dpa's central business department in Berlin, where he headed the automotive and energy sector teams. He wrote on topics of international politics at representative offices in Brussels and Geneva. He holds a doctorate in economics and social sciences and studied political science, economics and journalism in Hamburg as well as international relations at the London School of Economics; internships took him to the Federal Foreign Office, among other places. After guest lectureships and co-lectureships in journalism, he is working as an external post-doctoral researcher at the University of Hildesheim on a project that develops joint perspectives from foreign policy analysis and communication research on the special conditions and constraints of strategic communication in global crisis situations.

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5 October 2021, 12.30-13.30 p.m., online event via Zoom, you will receive the dial-in data by e-mail after registering for the event.

The Business of Disinformation

The next Leibniz Media Lunch Talk will be presented by the Digital Disinformation Hub at HBI. Eliana Quiroz, Bolivian guest researcher at the Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans Bredow Institut, will talk about "The Business of Disinformation". 

The Lunch Talk is part of the DigDisHub Series "Political Crisis and Disinformation in Latin America". In this series, the Digital Disinformation Hub takes a closer look at the debate on disinformation practices in Latin America by spotlighting theoretical contributions from Latin American researchers and exploring specific regional contexts.

Dr. Clara Iglesias Keller will provide the introduction. The event will be held in English.

About the Presentation

During election campaigns and political crises, marketing companies and other web providers are hired for legitimate and illegitimate web propaganda services. These activities are part of the political battlefield but have further implications than affecting the reputation of the political actors, they go against democracy and minorities. In this presentation we offer some research advances on paradigmatic cases in the world and in Latin America to understand how the disinformation business ecosystem works.

About Eliana Quiroz

Eliana Quiroz is a Bolivian guest researcher at the Leibniz Institute for Media Research from June until November 2021. She is working with Dr. Clara Iglesias Keller on the ecosystem of disinformation that was set during the recent Bolivian political crisis (October 2019 to October 2020). Eliana Quiroz is a Ph.D. student at the Universidad Major de San Andrés in La Paz, Bolivia. Her dissertation focuses on the effects of disinformation against disadvantaged populations.

more about the event

7 September 2021, 12.30-13.30 p.m., online event via Zoom, you will receive the dial-in data by e-mail after registering for the event.

Digital Citizens and Fake News: A Response from Civic Ethics

The next Leibniz Media Lunch Talk will be presented by the Digital Disinformation Hub at HBI. Leonardo Suárez Montoya, Venezuelan-Colombian guest researcher at the Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institut, will talk about his dissertation project, in which he addresses the moral role of citizens with respect to fake news.

The Lunch Talk is part of the new DigDisHub Series "Political Crisis and Disinformation in Latin America". In this series, the Digital Disinformation Hub takes a closer look at the debate on disinformation practices in Latin America by spotlighting theoretical contributions from Latin American researchers and exploring specific regional contexts.

Dr. Clara Iglesias Keller will provide the introduction. The event will be held in English.

About the Presentation

There is plenty of literature on fake news that could be grouped into three main blocks: a) journalism (technique, technology, algorithms), b) the media (business perspective, infodemics, news flow, media agendas, alternative platforms) and c) political communication (the 2016 US elections, for example; and the “industry of lies”). However, the focus has not been placed on citizens and their responsibility. These three perspectives are as relevant as they are urgent. They are also insufficient, because it is not only in the media industry or in the political arena that both the generation and the dissemination of fake news occur; they also find an enormous echo among citizens, in their hands and on their smartphones. The aim of this dissertation will be to address the moral role of citizens with respect to fake news. The approach to answer this question is civic ethics, a philosophical proposal by Adela Cortina.

About Leonardo Suárez Montoya

Leonardo Suárez Montoya is a Venezuelan-Colombian guest researcher at the Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans-Bredow-Institut from June until October 2021. He is currently a doctoral student at the University of Valencia in Spain, where his dissertation centers on the citizen’s responsibility with respect to fake news.

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Kathy Meßmer

11 May 2021, 12.30-13.30 p.m., online event via Zoom, you will receive the dial-in data by e-mail after registering for the event

„Quelle: Internet“? Digitale Nachrichten- und Informationskompetenzen der deutschen Bevölkerung im Test

For the next Leibniz Media Lunch Talk we welcome Dr. Anna-Katharina Meßmer from Stiftung Neue Verantwortung. In her talk, she will report on her study on the digital news literacy of the Germans. Dr. Sascha Hölig introduces the event. The lecture will be held in German.

About the Presentation

How well do people on the Internet manage to assess the reliability of sources or to recognize, classify and verify information? How well can they recognize and distinguish between PR content, disinformation and opinion pieces? And how competent are people in identifying incomplete news or conflicts of interest among sources and authors? 

Until now, there has been a lack of reliable data on these important digital news skills. For this reason, Stiftung Neue Verantwortung developed a test that was conducted in the fall of 2020 with a representative sample of the German-speaking population with Internet access in Germany aged 18 and older. The evaluation shows: Internet users:inside have basic knowledge, but often lack concrete knowledge and skills.
 

About Kathy Meßmer

Kathy Meßmer leads the project on digital news and information literacy. Previously, she was head of the office of the Research Institute for Social Development (FGW) and, as Lead Strategic Development, was responsible for strategic partner development and sales at the opinion research startup Civey. The sociologist with a PhD is co-initiator of #aufschrei, the first hashtag that won the Grimme Online Award in 2013.

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Poster João Carlos Magalhães

4 May 2021, 12.30-13.30 p.m., online event via Zoom, you will receive the dial-in data by e-mail after registering for the event

Voice through silence: Algorithmic visibility and bottom-up authoritarianism in the Brazilian crisis

The next Leibniz Media Lunch Talk will be presented by the Digital Disinformation Hub at HBI. Dr. João Carlos Magalhães from the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) will explain the relationship between authoritarianism and algorithmic platforms via the conference platform Zoom. Dr. Clara Iglesias Keller will provide the introduction. The event will be held in English.

About the Presentation

Debates on the relationship between authoritarianism and algorithmic platforms are dominated by two main narratives. One posits that authoritarian actors may exploit platforms to spread misinformation and sow distrust in democratic institutions; the second focuses on the despotic powers of platforms themselves. This paper proposes a third, complementary approach. Based on interviews with 47 previously disengaged Brazilian ordinary people who were politicised through Facebook, the paper advances the notion of "bottom-up authoritarianism". The concept explains how users developed authoritarian practices and identities not because they were radicalised by politicians or manipulated by platforms but due to the assumption that being heard on Facebook often depended on controlling their visibility through the silencing of others and themselves.

About João Carlos Magalhães

João Carlos Magalhães is a senior researcher at the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG), in Berlin. Previously, he researched and taught at the London School of Economics and Political Science, where he received a PhD in new media. His work focusses on the entanglement of datafication, power and ethics.

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15 March 2020, 4-5 p.m., online event via Zoom, you will receive the dial-in data by e-mail after registering for the event

GETTING TO GLOBAL INTERNET RULES IN 2021?

Leibniz Media Tea Time Talk online: Via conference platform Zoom Dr. David Morar, Guest Researcher at HBI and Data Policy Postdoctoral Fellow at NYU Steinhardt, speaks about global internet rules. This tea time talk focuses on both the esoteric questions about regulatory collaboration, and on the realities of 2021, a year that will see important reforms to existing frameworks and certainly proposals for new frameworks. Dr. Matthias C. Kettemann will provide the introduction. The event will be held in English.

About the Presentation

What do we understand by collaboration in terms of rules? How do different stakeholders collaborate towards a common goal when that goal ends up restricting the power of one of those groups? How do similar stakeholder groups with different geographic areas collaborate when their scope is culturally different? This tea time talk focuses on both the esoteric questions about regulatory collaboration, and on the realities of 2021, a year that will see important reforms to existing frameworks and certainly proposals for new frameworks. 

About David Morar

David Morar, PhD, is a researcher and public policy professional, a three time ICANN Fellow who has done work throughout the spectrum of technology policy issues, both nationally and internationally, from privacy and open data to ethics and content issues (e.g. disinformation, moderation). Besides being a Guest Researcher at HBI, Dr. Morar is currently a PostDoctoral Data Policy Fellow at NYU Steinhardt, an Associate Editor for the Journal of Communication Technology, and a Fellow at the Digital Interests Lab. His research and writing focuses on the intersection of technology, ethics, and policy, as it impacts speech, emerging technologies, innovation, and governance, with both breadth and depth. 

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Plakat Heuer16 February 2021, 12:30 to 1:30 pm, Onlineveranstaltung via Zoom, die Zugangsdaten werden nach Anmeldung per Mail mitgeteilt

Users & Machine Learning-Based Curation Systems

Leibniz Media Lunch Talk virtuell: Via Konferenz-Plattform Zoom spricht Dr. Hendrik Heuer zum Thema ML- (machine learning) basierte Kurationssysteme – die beispielsweise von YouTube und Facebook genutzt werden, um Inhalte für Milliarden von Nutzern auszuwählen – und erklärt, warum diese besser untersucht und überprüft werden sollten. Dr. Sascha Hölig übernimmt die Einführung. Die Veranstaltung findet auf Englisch statt.

Zum Vortrag

Despite their political, social, and cultural importance, practitioners’ framing of machine learning and users’ understanding of ML-based curation systems have not been investigated systematically. This is problematic since machine learning – as a novel programming paradigm in which a mapping between input and output is inferred from data – poses a variety of open research questions regarding users’ understanding. Hendrik Heuer will present an in-depth investigation of ML-based curation systems as socio-technical systems. He will also provide recommendations on how ML-based curation systems can and should be explained and audited.

Zur Person

Hendrik Heuer ist Wissenschaftler an der Universität Bremen. Seine Schwerpunkte sind Data Science und Digital Humanities. Er hat Digitale Medien, Mensch-Computer Interaktion und Machine Learning in Bremen, Buffalo, Stockholm (KTH), Helsinki (Aalto) und Amsterdam (UvA) studiert.

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Plakat Baack15 September 2020, 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., online event via Zoom, you will receive the dial-in data by e-mail after registering for the event

Mozilla‘s New Mission – New Chances for Internet Research?

Leibniz Media Lunch Talk online: Using the conference platform Zoom, Dr. Stefan Baack presents a project that deals with Mozilla's new policy regarding "trustworthy artificial intelligence". Dr. Felix Victor Münch will introduce the talk. The event will be held in English.

About the Presentation

In recent years, the non-profit software development organization Mozilla has shifted its interests from promoting open source technology (like the open-source browser Firefox) towards issues like algorithmic bias, datafication and agency, and internet governance. The foundation has decided to dedicate the majority of its resources to advocate for ‘trustworthy AI’. This can bring new opportunities for collaborations between Mozilla and academia.

About Stefan Baack

Stefan Baack an associate researcher at the Weizenbaum Institute and research and data analyst for Mozilla’s Internet Health Report.

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LMLT Clement 7 Koch25 August 2020, 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., online event via Zoom, you will receive the dial-in data by e-mail after registering for the event

Nachrichtennutzung mit neuen Technologien und in Zeiten der Pandemie

Leibniz Media Lunch Talk online: Using the conference platform Zoom, Prof. Dr. Michel Clement and Elena Koch present two projects which, from a business perspective, deal with the changed news consumption due to new technologies or in exceptional situations. Dr. Sascha Hölig will introduce the topic.
Join in and discuss with us! After registering, you will receive the dial-in data by e-mail shortly before the event begins.

About the Presentation

When news is broadcasted via smart speaker, consumer behaviour differs significantly compared to traditional media such as radio, TV or even devices like smartphones and tablets. Users of smart speaker are not only younger and more affluent, they are also more conscious and active in using their own voice. During the Corona pandemic, the value of news has increased significantly for a large part of the population. The number of trial subscriptions is increasing rapidly. However, this effect is hardly sustainable - with the relaxation of corona-related measures, subscription numbers are falling again significantly and there are few incentives to extend trial subscriptions for a fee.

About our Guests

Prof. Dr. Michel Clement has held the Chair of Marketing & Media at the Institute of Marketing at Universität Hamburg. He is also spokesman of the Research Center for Media and Communication at Universität Hamburg. Elena Koch has been a doctoral student at the Chair of Marketing & Media at Universität Hamburg and conducts research on news consumption, digitalization in the newspaper market and willingness to pay for digital content.

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Plakat18 August 2020, 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., online event via Zoom, you will receive the dial-in data by e-mail after registering for the event

Don’t Shoot the Message: Regulating Disinformation Beyond Content in Brazil

Leibniz Media Lunch Talk online: Using the conference platform Zoom, Dr. Clara Iglesias Keller will present regulatory strategies against disinformation in order to demonstrate the importance of legislation that does not deal with the freedom of expression (such as the criminalisation of individual statements and the strengthening of libel and defamation sanctions). The event will be held in English. Amélie Pia Heldt will introduce the event.

Join in and discuss with us! After registering, you will receive the dial-in data by e-mail shortly before the event begins.

About the Presentation

This talk focuses on regulatory strategies towards disinformation in order to demonstrate the importance of policies that do not encompass speech regulation (such as criminalisation of individual expression and enhancement of libel and defamation sanctions). It focuses on the Brazilian experience, where policy proposals have recently shifted from a speech-based approach to a range of mechanisms mostly based on transparency, accountability and user authentication.

About Clara Iglesias Keller

Dr. Clara Iglesias Keller is Guest Researcher at WZB Berlin Social Science Center and Associate Researcher at the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society.

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23 June 2020, 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., online event via Zoom, you will receive the dial-in data by e-mail after registering for the event

Die nächste Generation von Online-Medientypen

A virtual Leibniz Media Lunch Talk: On the conference platform Zoom, Stefanie Fuchsloch presents a model that uses six steps to differentiate the different services of platforms and intermediaries according to their relevance to the public opinion-forming process and the information dissemination path, thus facilitating legal definitions.
Join in and discuss the topic with us! Amélie Pia Heldt will introduce the talk. After the registration you will receive the dial-in details by e-mail shortly before the event is about to begin.

About the Presentation

Media law has difficulties in capturing new hybrid services and actors such as search engines or social networks in traditional categories of media types. In her presentation, Stefanie Fuchsloch presents a model that uses six stages to differentiate the different services offered by platforms and intermediaries based on their relevance to the public opinion-forming process and the information dissemination path. The goal of the model is to provide a support for further legal definitions.

About Stefanie Fuchsloch

Stefanie Fuchsloch is a doctoral student at the Institute of Journalism at the TU Dortmund University and conducts research in the field of European media law, the normative foundations for the mechanization of journalism and the digital transformation of the public role of the media.

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Plakat20042828 April 2020, 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., online event via Zoom, you will receive the dial-in data by e-mail after registering for the event

Pandemiebekämpfung durch digitale Medien in China und Europa

China has successfully used digital technologies in the fight against corona, which have made it easier to identify and track infected persons. As a result, it was possible to isolate those affected relatively quickly. The handling of personal, sensitive health data faces considerably less restrictive barriers in China than in Europe. However, tracking apps and the use of digital technologies to slow down the pandemic are also increasingly being discussed in Germany.

About the Discussion

What does a regulatory framework look like to ensure that such technologies can be used in a data-efficient and privacy-compliant manner? What are the most relevant digital applications and initiatives at the moment and how does their legal framework look like? What is possible in China that is not possible in Europe, and where can we learn from each other?

About our Guests

Kai von Carnap’s research focus revolves around technological trends and digital developments in China at MERICS.

Katja Drinhausen studied Sinology, International Law and Chinese Law in Germany and China. Since 2018 she is a research assistant at MERICS.

Tina Krell is a researcher within the group “Innovation and Entrepreneurship” at the HIIG and is the coordinator for the research project “Task Force: European Platform Economy”.

Jörg Pohle is a PostDoc at HIIG and heads the research programme “Data, Actors, Infrastructures: The Governance of Data-Driven Innovation and Cyber Security”.

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Presentation 16 March 2020, 12 to 1:00 p.m. POSTPONED DUE TO THE CORONA PANDEMIC

Mozilla's New Mission – New Chances for Internet Research?

Dr. Stefan Baack, associate researcher at the Weizenbaum Institute and research and data analyst for Mozilla’s Internet Health Report, discusses how recent changes the mission of the non-profit software development organization Mozilla might create new opportunities for collaborations with academia.

About the Presentation

In recent years, the non-profit software development organization Mozilla has shifted its interests from promoting open source technology (like the open-source browser Firefox) towards issues like algorithmic bias, datafication and agency, and internet governance. The foundation has decided to dedicate the majority of its resources to advocate for ‘trustworthy AI’. This can bring new opportunities for collaborations between Mozilla and academia. Stefan Baack will present the ‘trustworthy AI’ theme in more detail and show some of Mozilla’s recent activities (like the Internet Health Report) which might allow interesting new research fields and methods.

About Stefan Baack

Dr. Stefan Baack associate researcher at the Weizenbaum Institute and research and data analyst for Mozilla’s Internet Health Report.

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27 February 2020, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. Plakat Pohle

Politik des Digitalen – Eine feldtheoretische Retrospektive

Dr. Julia Pohle from the Berlin Social Science Center will give the presentation "Politik des Digitalen - eine feldtheoretische Retrospektive [Politics of the Digital - a Field Theoretical Retrospective].” A short introduction will be given by PD Dr. Matthias Kettemann and Dr. Jan-Hinrik Schmidt.

About the Presentation

Is digital policy an independent policy field? The field-theoretically based retrospective of internet political episodes from the 1980s to the present shows that this question is politically relevant. Whether the Internet and digitisation are perceived as a sub-issue of economic or security policy or as a separate area of regulation influences political goals, actors and disputes.

About Julia Pohle

Dr. Julia Pohle has been a research associate in the group "Politics of Digitalization" at the Social Science Research Center Berlin since 2015.

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28 January 2020, 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.

Challenges of Watch Dog Journalism in Mexico

Verónica Sánchez, PhD candidate at the Institute of Communications and Journalism Studies at Universität Hamburg, presents "Challenges of Watch Dog Journalism in Mexico". A short introduction will be given by Johanna Sebauer.

About the Presentation

Unlike in Western democracies, watchdog journalism was not common in many newsrooms in Mexico during the 20th century. Although there were some alternative outlets in the 1970s, they only began to emerge in the 1980s and 1990s, at the same time as the democratisation of the Mexican politics took place. In her talk, Verónica Sànchez will present some of the challenges that this form of journalism faces in the digital age as well as the organizations that want to produce it, mainly problems of funding and digital giants (intermediaries).
Based on interviews with news professionals with a watchdog journalism mindset that she conducted for her research, she will present an image of the current state of journalism as well as some of the perspectives of news professionals for the future.

About the Person

Verónica Sánchez is a PhD candidate at the Institute of Communications and Journalism Studies at Universität Hamburg. She holds the Erasmus Mundus Masters Degree in Journalism, Media and Globalization from Aarhus University and Universität Hamburg. Prior to this, she worked as a national reporter for the daily newspaper Reforma in Mexico City, one of the pioneering news organizations with democratic values in Mexico. She has taught specialized journalism at Universidad Panamericana in Mexico City. Her research is about the watchdog journalism field in Mexico in the digital age and the challenges and threats for its survival.

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Plakat ALchmayer15 January 2020, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.

Medien und die Bedrohung der Demokratie im 21. Jahrhundert

Prof. Dr. Konrad Lachmayer, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Law and Professor of Public Law, European Law and Foundations of Law at the Sigmund Freud Private University in Vienna, will report in his Lunch Talk from 12 to 1 p.m. on how neo-authoritarian tendencies threaten democracy and what significance (social) media have in these developments.

About the Talk

In the last 10 years, anti-democratic ideas have spread around the globe at an unexpected speed. Under the keyword "populism", neo-authoritarian tendencies are currently being intensively discussed. As the case study Hungary shows, the (state) attack on media (diversity) is at the beginning of these developments. The lecture shows the connections between authoritarianism and nationalism in the legal multi-level system from the perspective of increasing pressure on media. The role of social media in the changing era towards anti-pluralism, anti-constitutionalism and neo-nationalism is of particular importance.

About Konrad Lachmayer

Konrad Lachmayer is Professor of Public Law at the Sigmund Freud University (SFU) in Vienna.


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Plakat Pohlmann Barbaresi11 December 2019, 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.

The IT-Blog Sphere and Its Discussion of Digital Policy

Dr. Jens Pohlmann, Associate Researcher at Stanford's Poetic Media Lab and currently Visiting Fellow at ZeMKI in Bremen and Dr. Adrien Barbaresi from the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities will give the presentation "The IT-Blog Sphere and Its Discussion of Digital Policy" as part of our lecture series "Leibniz Media Lunch Talks." The presentation will be given in English, the discussion can also be held in German.

About the Presentation

Following the assumption that IT-blogs represent an avant-garde of technologically and socially interested experts, Jens Pohlmann (Stanford University) and Adrien Barbaresi (BBAW) present a research platform to observe their input on the public discussion of matters situated at the intersection of technology and society.

About Adrien Barbaresi and Jens Pohlmann

Dr. Adrien Barbaresi works at the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities/Centre for Digital Lexicography of the German Language, where he coordinates the field of contemporary and web-based corpora. Among other things, he deals with the compilation and indexing of language data. Dr. Jens Pohlmann is Associate Researcher at Stanford's Poetic Media Lab and currently Visiting Fellow at ZeMKI in Bremen. He works on the historical and cultural causes of the current transatlantic disagreements in Internet policy.

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Plakat Masso4 December 2019, 12:00 to 1:00 p.m.

Migration Research and Control in the Era of Big Data

Anu Masso, Associate Professor for Big Data in the Social Sciences at the Ragnar Nurkse Department of Innovation and Governance in Tallinn and currently visiting scholar at the postdoctoral college "Algorithmed Public Spheres", addresses the dialectical relationship between social data collection and migration in her Lunch Talk. The presentation will be given in English, the discussion can also be held in German

About the Presentation

Anu Massos presentation is based on the developments in social datafication, indicating (1) that all of the human activities are turned into data points, (2) these data are used for the migration management purposes, (3) the construction, access and use of data are unequally distributed and dis-consider diversity. Anu will discuss the next questions: Why the evolution of numbering technologies dis-considers human diversity? How to reconceptualize the diversity, considering the infinite diversity available in numbering technologies? The presentation is based on her conducted quantitative and qualitative studies in the fields of algorithmic governance of migration, securitization of forced migration, and selectivity of digital migration policy.

About Anu Masso

Anu Masso is Associate Professor for Big Data in the Social Sciences at the Ragnar Nurkse Department of Innovation and Governance in Tallinn and currently visiting scholar at the postdoctoral college "Algorithmed Public Spheres" of the HBI.

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Plakat Kümpel7 August 2019, 1:00 to 2:00 p.m.

Glücklicher Zufall? Zum Potenzial des beiläufigen Kontakts mit Nachrichten auf sozialen Netzwerkseiten

Dr. Anna Sophie Kümpel, from the Institute for Communication Science and Media Research of the LMU Munich, focuses her research on diverse forms of public communication in social online media and specifically with the distribution, perception, use and impact of information and news offerings.

About the Presentation

Social network sites (SNS) such as Facebook and Twitter have become a central interface for the reception and use of news. However, there is hardly any active demand or search for news there - rather, the majority of SNS users state that they come across news in passing (incidental news exposure) because friends share articles or news providers promote selected posts by means of advertisements. This casual news contact is often conceived as a 'happy coincidence' and seen as an opportunity to motivate even uninterested users to engage with publicly relevant topics.

About Anna Sophie Kümpel

Dr. Anna Sophie Kümpel is a research associate at the Institute for Communication Science and Media Research of the LMU Munich.

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Plakat Boch1 August 2019, 12:00 to 1:15 p.m.

The Limits of Tolerance: Extreme Speakers on Campus

About the Presentation

Recently, colleges and universities across the United States have had to choose whether to allow controversial speakers on campus, facing both legal complexity and normative implications. But how do Americans overall think about tolerating controversial speakers on campus? Contentious speakers bear on the larger issue of political tolerance, defined as the willingness to allow groups with which one disagrees to exercise their civil liberties. Annas study uses a factorial experiment to investigate individual features of controversial speaker events, including student opinion, security risk, and actual event-based descriptions of extreme left and extreme right speakers. Contrary to earlier studies of political tolerance, this study finds that Republicans (and ideological conservatives) are slightly more tolerant of extreme speech than are Democrats and Liberals.

About Anna Boch

Anna Boch is a doctoral candidate at the University of Stanford and is a guest researcher from June to August 2019 at the HBI. In her Lunch Talk, she will on free speech on US college campuses.

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