The research area Internet Policy & Governance looks at public and private forms of ordering processes. We are especially interested in the interplay of socio-cultural, technical and legal norms shaping the development of the Internet. Such norms evolve within a broad range of settings that often do not match the conventional understanding of a regulator. Technical standard-setting and industry self-regulation, for example, tend to blur the line between rule makers and rule takers. Moreover, users have a much stronger influence on the digital infrastructure than on other communicational media.
The analytical focus of this research area is on the relationship between different modes of coordination and regulation: Is the weight of legal norms decreasing in favour of social norms? Are there translations or transformations happening between (legal) norms, rules and technical norms? This research area aims to contribute to a genuine social science approach to Internet governance, an area so far dominated by legal perspectives.
Main research projects:
- Coordinating the Allocation of Information Goods
- Freedom of Expression in the Quasi-Public-Sphere
- Regulation Watch
- Spaces & Things: Informatisation of Urban Space
Associated research projects:
Team: Jeanette Hofmann | Christian Katzenbach | Kirsten Gollatz