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Kirsten Gollatz

Kirsten Gollatz is an associate researcher at the HIIG. Before that, she was Project Manager at the Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society in Berlin where she has worked on projects in the field of Policy and Governance since she joined the institute in 2011. She is currently conducting research with a focus on the conditions for exercising freedom of expression on the internet and the relevance of private transnational governance, as well as online participation.

Since 2014 Kirsten has been writing her thesis as an external doctoral student with the University of Zurich. In her thesis she investigates the evolution of transnational governance regimes that private social media companies apply to user-generated content on their platforms.

Ongoing and past research projects

  • Governance by numbers and the power of rankings in governing Internet Freedom. This newly developed project examines the ordering capacities of measuring devices, such as comparative numerical rankings, in constructing a transnational governance area frequently referred to as “Internet Freedom”.
  • Researcher with the Ranking Digital Rights Project, examining polices and practices of European internet and telecommunications companies as well as their legal and political context of operations in relation to international freedom of expression and privacy norms.
  • Research Contributor to the UNESCO/Internet Society case study report with the title Fostering Freedom Online: the Role of Internet Intermediaries (PDF).
  • Case Study Writer examining the model of the German parliamentary Internet Enquete Commission as part of case study series on Multistakeholder as Governance Groups by the Network of Interdisciplinary Internet & Society Research Centers (NoC).
    Read and discuss the case study and project synthesis report.
  • From November 2015 until May 2016 Kirsten joined the Governance Laboratory (The GovLab) at New York University as a Visiting Fellow. The fellowship has been supported by a research stipend from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

In summer 2012, Kirsten was a research intern at Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society. Before that, she worked as a research assistant to the project field Cultural Sources of Newness at the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB). Kirsten has a Master’s Degree in Media and Political Communication from the Free University Berlin. While attending university, Kirsten worked as a research assistant for enterprises, journalists, media industry associations and research organizations. She was involved in a variety of projects focusing on emerging media and internet policies and media economical issues, particularly on governance models in the context of a disruptive structural shift in media and journalism.

Videos

Books

MacKinnon, R., Hickok, E., Bar, A., & Lim, H. with research contribution by Kirsten Gollatz (2015). Fostering Freedom Online: the Role of Internet Intermediaries. Paris, France: UNESCO/Internet Society. Publication details

Journal articles and conference proceedings

Hofmann, J., Katzenbach, C., & Gollatz, K. (2016). Between coordination and regulation: Finding the governance in Internet governance. New Media & Society. Publication details

Gollatz, K., Herweg, S., & Hofmann, J. (2015). Enquete-Kommission Internet und digitale Gesellschaft (Enquete Commission on Internet and Digital Society). Berkman Center Research Publication, 2015(01). Publication details

Gollatz, K. (2014). Online Free expression in the Corporate Realm: Corporations’ Policies and Practices Shaping Private Speech on Communication Platforms. Nova Acta Leopoldina, NF 119(403), 49-55. Publication details

Gollatz, K. (2013). App development: Is ‘privacy by design’ the new standard? Internet Policy Review. Publication details

Wagner, B., Gollatz, K., & Calderaro, C. (2013). Common Narrative – Divergent Agendas: The Internet and Human Rights in Foreign Policy. Conference Proceedings. International Conference on Internet Science. Brussels, April 9-11, 2013, 19-27. Publication details

Book contributions and chapters

Gollatz, K. (2013). Transnational Pirates. In Dobusch, L., Mader, P., & Quack, S. (Eds.), Governance across Borders Transnational. Fields and Transversal Themes (pp. 222-228). Berlin: epubli. Publication details

Hofmann, J., Katzenbach, C., & Gollatz, K. (2013). Freedom on the Net Report Germany. In Kelly, S., Truong, M., Earp, M., Reed, L., Shahbaz, A., & Greco-Stoner, A. (Eds.), Freedom on the Net 2013 (pp. 302-321). New York, NY: Freedom House. Publication details

Dobusch, L. & Gollatz, K. (2012). Piraten zwischen transnationaler Bewegung und lokalem Phänomen. In Bieber, C. & Leggewie, C. (Eds.), Unter Piraten. Erkundungen in einer neuen politischen Arena (pp. 25-40). Bielefeld: transcript. Publication details

Working paper

Gollatz, K., Beer, F. &, Katzenbach, C. (2018). The Turn to Artificial Intelligence in Governing Communication Online Workshop Report. HIIG Discussion Paper Series, 2018(09). Publication details

Hofmann, J., Katzenbach, C., & Gollatz, K. (2014). Between Coordination and Regulation: Conceptualizing Governance in Internet Governance. HIIG Discussion Paper Series, 2014(04). Publication details

Wagner, B., Gollatz, K., & Calderaro, A. (2014). Internet & Human Rights in Foreign Policy: comparing narratives in the US and EU Internet Governance agenda. EUI Working Paper RSCAS; Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom (CMPF), 2014/86. Publication details

Other publications

Gollatz, K., Riedl, M. J. & Pohlmann, J. (2018). Removals of Online Hate Speech in Numbers. Digital Society Blog, HIIG Science Blog, Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society, Berlin, Germany. Cross-posted at Media Policy Project Blog, London School of Economics, London, UK. Publication details

Gollatz, K. & Jenner, L. (2017). Hate Speech und Fake News – Über die Vermischung und Politisierung zweier Begriffe, Teil 1. Digital Society Blog. Publication details

Gollatz, K. & Jenner, L. (2017). Hate Speech und Fake News – Über die Vermischung und Politisierung zweier Begriffe, Teil 2. Digital Society Blog. Publication details

Gollatz, K. (2016). 5 Questions for … Visiting Researcher Dr Axel Bruns. Digital Society Blog. Publication details

Gollatz, K. (2016). The Power of Platforms. Digital Society Blog. Publication details

Send, H., Ebert, J., Friesike, S., Gollatz, K., & Schildhauer, T. (2014). Online Mit­machen und Entscheiden – Partizipationsstudie 2014, Berlin: Alexander von Humboldt Institut für Internet und Gesellschaft. Publication details

Gollatz, K. (2014). Deutsche Telekom’s ‘surveillance report’ builds on a trend. Internet Policy Review. Publication details

Gollatz, K. (2013). App development: is ‘privacy by design’ the new standard? Internet Policy Review. Publication details

Lectures and presentations

Weaponizing internet governance: Comparing the German Network Enforcement Act and FOSTA-SESTA in the United States
Annual Meeting of the National Communication Association (NCA), Freedom of Expression Division. Baltimore Convention Center, Baltimore, United States: 14.11.2019 Further information

Martin J. Riedl, Kirsten Gollatz, Jens Pohlmann.

Platform Governance as Reflexive Coordination – Mediating Nudity, Hate Speech and Fake News on Facebook
AoIR 2017 Networked Publics. Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR). University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia: 19.10.2017

Christian Katzenbach, Kirsten Gollatz

Politics of Discourse: Fake News Controversy in Germany and how it solidifies in new institutional arrangements
AoIR 2017 Networked Publics (Session: Misinformation, Propaganda and "Fake News": A European Perspective). Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR). University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia: 19.10.2017

Kirsten Gollatz, Jonas Kaiser, Cornelius Puschmann

The turn to artificial intelligence in content moderation
Digital-born Media Carnival (Session: Understanding Complex Systems). SHARE Foundation, OSCE Mission to Serbia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. Pjaca od Kina, Kotor, Montenegro: 17.07.2017

Kirsten Gollatz

Measuring User Rights Online: Numerical Rankings as a Form of Governing Internet Freedom
Annual Conference of the Canadian Sociological Association at Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences 2017 (Session: Sociology of quantification, commensuration, statistics, and valuation). Canadian Federation of the Humanities and Social Sciences. Ryerson University, Toronto, ON, Canada: 29.05.2017

Kirsten Gollatz

My place, my rules! Wie Plattformen entscheiden was wir online sagen können
Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften. Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften e.V.. Humboldt Institut für Internet und Gesellschaft, Berlin, Germany: 11.06.2016

Kirsten Gollatz

Continous Ordering and Algorithmic Translation: How STS opens up and re-assembles Internet Governance
Internet Research 16. Association of Internet Research. ., Phoenix, USA: 23.10.2015

Christian Katzenbach, Kirsten Gollatz, Jeanette Hofmann

"You own your content, but…" - Tracing changing notions of ownership over user content in social media platform policies
Media Trends 2015: Power and Media: Ownership, Sponsorship, Censorship (Session: Panel 8. Users and Consumers). Webster Vienna Private University's Media Communications department. Webster Vienna Private University, Vienna, Austria: 12.09.2015

Kirsten Gollatz

Internet Governance – Komplexe Strukturen, reflexive Prozesse und deren Legitimität
Telemedicus Sommerkonferenz: Zwei Schritte vorwärts: Die Zukunft des Internetrechts (Session: Rough Consensus and Running Code). Telemedicus in Kooperation mit Internet & Gesellschaft Collaboratory, Hertie Stiftung, Alexander von Humboldt Institut für Internet und Gesellschaft, Humboldt Law Clinic Internetrecht. Hertie School of Governance, Berlin, Germany: 30.08.2015

Kirsten Gollatz

Between Coordination and Regulation: Conceptualizing Governance in Internet Governance
GigaNet 9th Annual Symposium (Session: THEORETICAL SESSION: Conceptualizing Internet governance). The Global Internet Governance Academic Network (GigaNet). Lütfi Kırdar Convention and Exhibition Center, Istanbul, Turkey: 01.09.2014

Jeanette Hofmann, Christian, Katzenbach, Kirsten Gollatz

Terms & Conditions – it's ze law, stupid! Taking practical suggestions from German Constitutional Law
RightsCon Silicon Valley. access. Mission Bay Conference Center, San Francisco, USA: 03.03.2014

Kirsten Gollatz, Julian Staben

Corporate Policies and Practices Shaping Private Speech Online
4th Symposium
 “Human Rights and Science” (Session: Human Rights and New Media). Human Rights Committee of the
 German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and Polish Academy of Sciences. Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland: 13.09.2013

Kirsten Gollatz

Common Narrative Divergent Agendas: The Internet and Human Rights in Foreign Policy
1st International Conference on Internet Science of the Network of Excellence in Internet Science (EINS) (Session: Internet Science and Politics). EINS project, the FP7 European Network of Excellence in Internet Science. Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts, Brussels, Belgium: 10.04.2013

Ben Wagner, Kirsten Gollatz, Andrea Calderaro

Facebook at a Tipping Point. Is there a need for a new valorization of privacy?
4th European Communication Conference on “Social Media – Global Voices”, ECREA 2012. ECREA European Communication Research and Education Association. Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Istanbul, Turkey: 27.10.2012

Kirsten Gollatz, Alexander Sängerlaub

The quasi-public Sphere of Online Platforms. Global Spaces for Free Expression?
ECREA 2012 Pre-Conference “Imposing Freedoms: The role of copyright, privacy and censorship governance in the re/definition of rights in digital media” (Session: Freedom and the media). Media Governance and Industries Research Group of the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Vienna. Plato College of Higher Education, Istanbul, Turkey: 23.10.2012

Kirsten Gollatz

Panels

Doing STS-informed Internet Governance Research
The Internet Rules, But How? A Science and Technical Studies Take on Doing Internet Governance (Pre-Conference Workshop, AoIR 2016). AoIR, Humboldt Institut für Internet und Gesellschaft, Hans-Bredow-Institut. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany: 05.10.2016

Kirsten Gollatz, Christian Katzenbach, Jeanette Hofmann

Vorstellung der Studie "Das Bürger-Internet: Neutralität ist nicht genug" und Diskussion
Das Bürger-Internet: Neutralität ist nicht genug. Netopia | Forum for the Digital Society. Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany: 26.03.2015

Kirsten Gollatz

Session on Western Perspectives and Implications for Policy
Internet Freedom in Democratic Southeast Asia. German Marshall Fund of the United States. Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Jakarta, Indonesia: 03.10.2013

Kirsten Gollatz

Moderation of workshops and panels

This Panel May Contain Sensitive Content: Automated Filtering and the Future of Free Expression Online
RightsCon Toronto 2018. access now. Beanfield Centre at Exhibition Place, Toronto, Ontario, Canada: 17.05.2018

Kirsten Gollatz

Digital Transformation of Media Industry
Digital-born Media Carnival. SHARE Foundation, OSCE Mission to Serbia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. Masera Club, Kotor, Montenegro: 15.07.2017

Kirsten Gollatz

Bedingungen für die Ausübung von Meinungsfreiheit im Internet
Gefährdet Big Data unsere Demokratie?. Vereinigung Deutscher Wissenschaftler VDW e.V., Ev. Akademie Villigst. Ev. Tagungsstätte Haus Villigst, Schwerte, Germany: 15.10.2016

Kirsten Gollatz

Intermediary liability, jurisdiction and extremist content
'The Role of Social Media and Internet Companies in Responding to Violent Online Extremism'. Network of Excellence for Research in Violent Online Political Extremism (Vox-Pol). Central European University, School of Public Policy, Budapest, Hungary: 05.03.2015

Kirsten Gollatz

Organisation of events

Das Ende der Transparenz?
Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften 2018. 09.06.2018. Humboldt Institut für Internet und Gesellschaft, Berlin, Germany. Co-Organised by: Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften Berlin + Potsdam (National) Further information

Alexandra Giannopoulou, Tuukka Lehtiniemi, Nataliia Sokolovska, Lisa Gutermuth, Christian Djeffal, Shirley Ogolla, Sönke Bartling, Matti Grosse, Wolfgang Schulz, Kirsten Gollatz, Christian Katzenbach, Benedikt Fecher

The turn to artificial intelligence in governing communication online
20.04.2018. Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society, Berlin, Germany. Co-Organised by: AccessNow (International)

Kirsten Gollatz, Christian Katzenbach

Data Sprint on Digital Rights in the Telecom Sector
23.05.2017. Humboldt Institut für Internet und Gesellschaft, Berlin, Germany. Co-Organised by: Ranking Digital Rights, The WikiRate Project e.V. (International)

Lisa Gutermuth, Kirsten Gollatz

Algorithmic Governance
Early Stage Researcher Colloquium on Internet and Society 2015. 24.09.2015. Social Science Research Centre, Berlin, Germany (International)

Christian Katzenbach, Kirsten Gollatz

From Disobedient Practices to Global Governance Arrangements: Academic perspectives on digital phenomena
Discussion at the HIIG as part of the Federal Foreign Office's Visitors' Program. 07.08.2014. Humboldt Institut für Internet und Gesellschaft, Berlin, Germany (International)

Kirsten Gollatz, Rüdiger Schwarz, Osvaldo Saldías, Theresa Züger

The Internet and Human Rights: Building a free, open and secure Internet
From 13.09.2012 to 14.09.2012. German Federal Foreign Office, Berlin, Deutschland. Co-Organised by: Aarhus University, Human Rights Watch, Federal Foreign Office of the Federal Republic of Germany (International)

Kirsten Gollatz

Participation as expert

Roundtable on AI MEP Marietje Schaake and Access Now. European Parliament, Brussels, Belgium: 24.09.2018

Kirsten Gollatz

Expertenworkshop: Automatisierte Zensur? Technische Lösungen zur Regulation politischer Online-Kommunikation abida, Karlsruher Institut für Technologie, Universität Münster. Universität Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria: 26.04.2018

Kirsten Gollatz

Workshop zur Fake-News-Datenanalyse Measuring Fake News Stiftung Neue Verantwortung. Stiftung Neue Verantwortung, Berlin, Germany: 19.05.2017

Kirsten Gollatz

The Rule of Algorithms? Exploring design, impact, and regulation of algorithmic decision-making Hans-Bredow-Institut, Department Informatik der Universität Hamburg. Landesvertretung Hamburg, Berlin, Germany: 04.10.2016

Kirsten Gollatz

Media appearances

Kollaborations-Tools: Umstrittene Helfer (15.10.2018). Magazin Mitbestimmung
Further information

Kollaborations-Tools: Umstrittene Helfer (15.10.2018). Magazin Mitbestimmung
Further information

Prihodnost je superinteligentna (18.10.2017). Svet Kapitala (DELO)

Digitalne ikone: Digital-born media carnival - conversations on current topics (01.08.2017). Radio Beograd 2
Further information

Debatte um Nutzer-Sperren: Facebook braucht eine Hotline (26.08.2016). Spiegel Online
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Breitband: Regulierter Hass (19.09.2015). Deutschlandradio Kultur
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KirstenGollatz

Position

Former Associate Researcher: The evolving digital society

Contact

Current HIIG research activities

Research issues in focus

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