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First meet­ing of the Advisory Council of the Dig­i­tal Services Co­or­di­na­tor at the Bun­desnet­za­gen­tur

Year of issue 2024
Date of issue 2024.09.18

The Advisory Council of the Digital Services Coordinator is holding its first meeting today. The representatives of academia, industry and civil society are meeting for the first time since the German Digital Services Act (DDG) entered into force and the Digital Services Coordinator (DSC) took up its work in Bonn.

"We are delighted that proven digital experts from a variety of fields are supporting our work as DSC. We are faced with significant challenges in the area of platform supervision. Since taking up our work as DSC we have been in close dialogue with representatives from academia, industry and civil society about the latest developments in digital services and online platforms," said Klaus Müller, President of the Bundesnetzagentur and acting head of the DSC.

Advisory Council as an expert body

The Advisory Council of the Digital Services Coordinator is an independent body of experts that supports the DSC in carrying out its tasks and acts as a link between the DSC and academia and practice. The members of the Advisory Council were nominated by the German Bundestag and appointed to the expert body by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action in consultation with the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport. The Advisory Council comprises representatives of academia, industry associations and civil society organisations:

Representatives of academia

  • Professor Christina Elmer, TU Dortmund University, Institute for Journalism
  • Professor Ulrike Klinger, European University Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)
  • Dr Tobias Mast, Leibniz Institute for Media Research Hans Bredow Institute (HBI)
  • Professor Henrike Weiden LL.M., University of Applied Sciences Munich, Department of Business Administration

Representatives of industry associations

  • Susanne Dehmel, Managing Director, Bitkom e.V.
  • Dirk Freytag, President, Bundesverband Digitale Wirtschaft (BVDW) e.V.
  • Alexander Rabe, Managing Director, eco – Association of the Internet Industry

Representatives of civil society

  • Josephine Ballon, HateAid gGmbH
  • Lina Ehrig, Federation of German Consumer Organisations (vzbz)
  • Markus Hartmann, General Public Prosecutor's Office Cologne (ZAC NRW)
  • Siegfried Schneider, former Minister of State
  • Matthias Spielkamp, AW AlgorithmWatch gGmbH
  • Teresa Widlok, LOAD e.V.
  • Svea Windwehr, D64 – Zentrum für Digitalen Fortschritt e.V.

The Advisory Council advises the DSC and the other competent authorities on basic matters relating to the application and enforcement of the European Digital Services Act (DSA). It makes general recommendations for the effective and uniform implementation of the DSA and puts academic questions, in particular relating to the handling of data, to the DSC and the other competent authorities. The Advisory Council reports to the German Bundestag each year on its activities and its cooperation with the DSC and the other competent authorities.

Tasks of the Digital Services Coordinator at the Bundesnetzagentur

The Bundesnetzagentur, as the DSC, is the central coordinating body for enforcement of the DSA in Germany. The DSC monitors service providers and online platforms for compliance with their obligations, acts as a central point for complaints by online users when the DSA has been violated and coordinates cooperation between competent authorities in Germany and the EU. The DSC certifies out-of-court dispute settlement bodies and trusted flaggers. Upon request the DSC can grant vetted researchers access to the data of very large online platforms and search engines.

The DSC is supported in its work by the Federal Agency for Child and Youth Protection in the Media (BzKJ), the Media Authority of North Rhine-Westphalia coordinating for the competent bodies for media monitoring, and the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI).

Further information about the DSC and the Advisory Council is available at www.dsc.bund.de (German web pages).

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