Speakers

© Elke Jung-Wolff
Professor Monika Grütters, Member of the German Bundestag
Minister of State for Culture and the Media

© Valerie Mocker
Valerie Mocker
Tech-for-Good Investor

© Michel Brumat & University of Luxembourg
Prof. Dr Mark D. Cole
Professor for Media and Telecommunication Law at the University of Luxembourg

© Jenny Weiland
Prof. Dr Stephan Ory
Attorney at Law

© Monika Jones
Monika Jones
Journalist

© ACT
Grégoire Polad
Director General, Association of Commercial Television in Europe

© Foto: Axel Springer SE / Fotograf: Andreas Bitesnich
Dr. Mathias Döpfner
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Axel Springer SE

© Alan N. Shapiro
Alan N. Shapiro
Author and media theorist

© Věra Jourová
Věra Jourová
Vice President of the European Commission for Values and Transparency

© EBU
Noel Curran
Director General of the EBU

© Richard Burnley
Richard Burnley
Director of Legal and Policy at EBU

© RTL Group
Guillaume de Posch
President of ACT

© DW
Peter Limbourg
Director General of Deutsche Welle

© Carine Chardon, Fotograf: Markus Schüller
Carine Léa Chardon
Head of Media Policy / Media Law, ZVEI (German Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers’ Association)
from 1.9.2020 Managing Director of the ZVEI Consumer Electronics Division

© Michael Neuber
Michael Neuber
Government Affairs and Public Policy Manager, Google

© Dr. Daniel Knapp
Dr. Daniel Knapp
Chief Economist at Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) Europe

© Prof. Charlie Beckett
Prof. Charlie Beckett
Director, Polis at the London School of Economics

© FKPH
Sabine Verheyen
Member of the European Parliament

© Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland / Marina Rosa Weigl
Bernd Reichart
CEO of Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland

© Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Schulz
Prof Dr Wolfang Schulz
Director of the Leibniz Institute for Media Research

© Anthony Whelan
Anthony Whelan
Digital policy adviser in the cabinet of the European Commission President

© Grothe Medienberatung
Friederike und Thorsten Grothe
Grothe Medienberatung

© Sarah Broughton Micova
Dr Sarah Broughton Micova
Lecturer in communication policy and politics

© Corinne Schweizer
Dr Corinne Schweizer
Senior research and teaching associate

© PLATT-MC CARTHY Deborah (CNECT)
Dr Roberto Viola
Director General of DG CONNECT (Directorate General of Communication, Networks, Content and Technology) at the European Commission
He was the Deputy Director-General of DG CONNECT, European Commission from 2012 to 2015.
Roberto Viola served as Chairman of the European Radio Spectrum Policy group (RSPG) from 2012 to 2013, as Deputy Chairman in 2011 and Chairman in 2010. He was a member of the BEREC Board (Body of European Telecom Regulators), and Chairman of the European Regulatory Group (ERG).
He held the position of Secretary General in charge of managing Autorità per le garanzie nelle comunicazioni (AGCOM), from 2005 to 2012. Prior to this, he served as Director of the Regulation Department and Technical Director in AGCOM from 1999 to 2004.
From 1985-1999 he served in various positions including Head of Telecommunication and Broadcasting Satellite Services at the European Space Agency (ESA).
Roberto Viola holds a Doctorate in Electronic Engineering and a Masters in Business Administration (MBA).

© Landesanstalt für Medien Schmid
Dr Tobias Schmid
Director of the Media Authority of North Rhine-Westphalia (LFM NRW)
As Director of the Media Authority of North Rhine-Westphalia (LFM NRW), Tobias Schmid is also the European Affairs Commissioner of the Conference of Directors of the Media Authorities (DLM). Moreover, since January 2020 he is the elected Chairman of the European Regulators Group for Audiovisual Media Services (ERGA).
Prior to this, from 2005 until 2016, Mr. Schmid, who holds a doctorate in law, was Head of Media Policy at Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland and from September 2010 until December 2016 he was Executive Vice President of Governmental Affairs at RTL Group. In addition, from November 2012 until September 2016 Mr. Schmid was chairman of the board at the German Association of Private Broadcasters and Telemedia (VAUNET).

© C. Voulgaropoulos
Roch-Olivier Maistre
President of the French National Audiovisual Regulatory Authority (CSA), appointed by the President of the Republic
Mr Roch-Olivier Maistre, Chamber President of the French Court of Audit and general rapporteur of the Court’s Committee on Public Reports and Programmes, has been President of the French Broadcasting Authority (CSA) since 4 February 2019. His term of office there ends in January 2025.A graduate from the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Sciences Po) with a Bachelor’s degree in Economics and an alumnus of the National School of Administration (ENA) (1982), Roch-Olivier Maistre worked as an Administrator for the City of Paris from 1982 to 1986. He then joined the staff of François Léotard, Minister of Culture and Communications, as an advisor (1986-1988).
Between 1988 and 1991, Roch-Olivier Maistre worked as Deputy Director of Economic Affairs at the City of Paris Directorate of Finance and Economic Affairs and then as Chief of Staff to the General Secretary. Following that, he became Managing Director of the Comédie-Française (1993-1995) before being appointed to the position of General Secretary of Paris City Council (1995-2000).
Between 2000 and 2005, he joined the office of the President of the Republic as Advisor for Education, Culture and Communications. In 2005, he moved to the Cour des comptes (Court of Audit) where he has occupied the following roles in succession: Master Auditor at the 4th Chamber, Head of the Foreign Affairs Sector, First Assistant Public Prosecutor reporting to the General Prosecutor, Chamber President and General Rapporteur.
Roch-Olivier Maistre has been awarded the titles of Officer of the National Order of the Legion of Honour, Officer of the National Order of Merit and Commander of Arts and Letters.

© Susanne Nikoltchev
Susanne Nikoltchev
Executive Director of the European Audiovisual Observatory
Dr Susanne Nikoltchev took office as Executive Director of the European Audiovisual Observatory in July 2013.
Prior thereto she was the Observatory’s Head of Department for Legal Information and editor in chief of all its legal publications (since 1998).
She has been a media, telecoms, international trade and EU competition lawyer associated with the American law firm of Covington & Burling (1995-1998).
As a member of the bars of Germany and Washington D.C., she has worked in private practice in Germany, the United States and Belgium with particular exposure to audiovisual issues on the international and European level as well as on the national level.

© Francisco Javier Cabrera Blázquez
Maja Cappello
Head of the Department for Legal Information
Maja Cappello PhD joined the European Audiovisual Observatory as Head of the Department for Legal Information in 2014. Since June 2020 she is also member of the Advisory Board of the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO).
Before joining the Observatory, Maja Cappello worked for the Italian regulator AGCOM from 1998 and was Head of AGCOM’s Digital Rights Unit of the Media Services Directorate. She was also Vice President of EPRA (European Platform of Regulatory Authorities) from 2011 to 2014.
Italian-Norwegian national, she is author of articles and speeches in the areas of audiovisual media services, media pluralism, copyright and consumer protection and holds an LLM in EU law and a PhD in European social law after graduating in Law in 1994.

© OFCOM CH
Jean-François Furnémont
Founder and CEO of Wagner-Hatfield
Jean-François Furnémont is the Founder and CEO of Wagner-Hatfield, a research and consulting company that works globally with international organisations, Ministries and independent regulatory bodies. Wagner-Hatfield is particularly active in the media sector and the digital economy, with a specific interest for issues related to freedom of expression and media freedom & pluralism.
He holds a BA in Journalism and Communication Studies, a MA in International Relations and European policy and a MA in Public Finances. Former freelance journalist and former spokesman of a political party, he is the author of several books of political science and a number of publications on media policy and regulation.
He held the position of Director General (2003-1014) of the audiovisual media regulatory authority (CSA) of the French speaking Community in Belgium. He has also been actively involved in the Board of the European Platform of Regulatory Authorities (EPRA) as vice-Chairman (2008-2011) and as Chairman (2011-2014).

© Anna Herold
Anna Herold
European Commission
Dr Anna Herold is currently Head of the Audiovisual and Media Policy Unit at the European Commission. She was previously Member of Cabinet of Günther H. Oettinger, European Commissioner responsible for Digital Economy and Society. Prior to that, she was Assistant to Deputy Director-General of DG Communications Networks, Content and Technology of the European Commission, Roberto Viola. She has worked for the European Commission since 2003, dealing with media, audiovisual and telecoms policy as well as competition law.
Anna holds a PhD in Law from the European University Institute in Florence and has written on media law and policy, international trade and competition law.

© Anna Gekrepten
Ľuboš Kukliš
Chief executive at the Council for Broadcasting and Retransmission of Slovakia
Luboš Kukliš PhD is a chief executive at the Council for Broadcasting and Retransmission of Slovakia.
He is the Council’s representative in European Regulators Group for Audiovisual Media Services (ERGA), where he currently serves as Board member responsible for external relations and also leads ERGA’s work on disinformation.
He frequently speaks at public events and cooperates with various international institutions on possible solutions to problems such as the spread of disinformation, protection of minors in the online space or the regulation of the new media environment.
He holds a PhD in administrative law.

© Ania Helseth
Ania Helseth
Public Policy Manager – EU Affairs, Facebook
Ania Helseth is an IP lawyer graduated from the University of Oxford and specialized in the EU law at the University van Amsterdam. She has a long public policy experience in Brussels; she worked for the European Parliament at the beginning of her career and was a telecom attaché at the Permanent Representation of Poland to the EU.
She held various positions at the American Chamber of Commerce to the EU and headed public policy for the Association of Satellite Operators (including companies like Airbus, Telenor or SES).
She joined Facebook in May 2016 and focused on issues around content regulation, copyright, AVMS and intermediary liability.

© Marco Pancini
Marco Pancini
Director Public Policy EMEA, YouTube
Marco Pancini was appointed Director Public Policy EMEA for YouTube in 2018.
Prior to this role, he led Google’s EU Commission and Council team in Brussels, as Director for public policy and Government relations. Formerly European policy counsel in charge of government relations for Google in Italy, he represented Google in important international meetings as the Internet Governance Forum of the United Nations.
Before Google, Marco was Head of legal and Trust and Safety at eBay.it, the Italian subsidiary of the world’s biggest online marketplace from 2002 to 2007. After his studies in law, Marco started his professional career as part of the start-up project of iBazar, the first online auction web site in Europe, and then joined eBay, when iBazar was acquired.

© Alexandra Evans
Alexandra Evans
Head of Child Safety Public Policy, Europe Tik Tok
Alexandra Evans is Head of Child Safety Public Policy, Europe at TikTok, the world’s largest video sharing platform. Her mission is to protect and empower children and young people so they can thrive online.
Before joining TikTok, Alexandra was Chief of Strategy at the 5Rights Foundation where she played a leading role in the successful campaign to enshrine enhanced data rights for children in UK law. As Policy Director of the British Board of Film Classification, she was responsible for UK classification standards in cinemas, on DVD and online.
Issues Alexandra works on include online child sexual abuse and exploitation, bullying/harassment, harmful and inappropriate content, data protection and privacy, access to information, evolving developmental capacities of children, design of services, digital wellbeing and digital rights.
Before specialising in digital policy, she practiced law at a leading London firm, advising clients on discrimination, free speech, privacy and reputation protection.

© Olivier de Vigerie
Alexandra Laffitte
Policy Officer, French Telecommunications Federation
Policy Officer at the French Telecommunications Federation and in charge of content regulation and audio-visual matters, Alexandra Laffitte is also the Vice-Chairwoman of EuroISPA, the European association representing internet service providers. Within the association, she also chairs the Market & Services Committee since April 2018. In addition, she serves as an expert for the EUIPO (European Union Intellectual Property Office) with a focus on the cooperation between technical intermediaries and rightsholders.
Former fellow of the German Parliament, she is an alumna of the master’s program in Telecommunications and Space Law of the University Paris-Saclay, as well as of the Franco-German dual Law program of La Sorbonne and the University of Cologne.

© Devin Curry
Prof Meredith Broussard
Professor and Data Journalist
Prof Meredith Broussard is an associate professor at the Arthur L Carter Journalism Institute of the New York University and the author of “Artificial Unintelligence: How Computers Misunderstand the World”. Her academic research focuses on artificial intelligence in investigative reporting with a particular interest in using data analysis for social good. She is an affiliate faculty member at the Moore Sloan Data Science Environment at the NYU Center for Data Science and a 2019 Reynolds Journalism Institute Fellow. Her work has been supported by the Institute of Museum & Library Services as well as the Tow Center at Columbia Journalism School.

© Kenza Ait Si Abbou Lyadini
Kenza Ait Si Abbou Lyadini
Senior Manager Robotics and AI at Deutsche Telekom
Kenza At Si Abbou is an expert in Robotics and Artificial Intelligence. Born in Morocco, she studied in Spain, Germany and China, and besides being a senior Manager, she is leading the Deutsche Telekom Women Network in Germany. In December 2018, she was honored with the Digital Female Leader Award. As a speaker, Author and Intrapreneur she encourages process automation in Europe through robotics and artificial intelligence solutions.

© Wilfried Runde
Wilfried Runde
Head of Research and Cooperation Projects
Wilfried Runde has worked as a freelance music writer, information specialist, researcher, online editor and TV journalist for several media outlets. In 2010 he was appointed Head of Innovation Projects for Germany’s international public broadcaster Deutsche Welle. Since then Wilfried has been leading “a skilled mix of open minds” working on R&D and Innovation management related projects, publications and events dealing with “technologies to tell big stories better.”

© TV3
Laura Blaževičiūtė
CEO of TV3 Lithuania
Laura Blazeviciute is Member of the Board and CEO of TV3 Lithuania, the largest media group in Lithuania that operates 3 commercial TV channels, Radio, the online infotainment portal tv3.lt and the AVoD platform TV3 Play.
Laura has 20 years of experience in the industry at Modern Times Group (previous owner of All Media Lithuania) within different European markets – Lithuania, Latvia, Hungary and the United Kingdom. Laura has served in various positions such as President of Lithuanian Radio & TV Association and Vice-President of Lithuanian Business Confederation/ICC Lithuania as well as Board Member at Enterprise Lithuania.
Laura holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Business Administration from the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga.

© Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
Prof Dr Rasmus Kleis Nielsen
Director of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism
Nielsen is also Professor of Political Communication at the University of Oxford. He was previously Director of Research at the Reuters Institute and Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Press/Politics.
His work focuses on changes in the news media, on political communication, and the role of digital technologies in both. He has done extensive research on journalism, American politics, and various forms of activism, and a significant amount of comparative work in Western Europe and beyond.
He gives frequent presentations at both academic conferences and industry events. His work has been covered by a range of news media including the BBC, the Economist, the Financial Times, the Guardian, and various other international media.

© Marianna Evenstein, Fotograf: Izzy Dempsey
Marianna Evenstein
Journalist
Marianna Evenstein is an American journalist and moderator who has been based in Germany for more than 20 years. She is a news editor and television anchor at Germany’s international broadcaster, DW (Deutsche Welle). Prior to her work in television, she was also a radio host and reporter for DW’s current affairs program, Newslink.
In addition to her journalistic work, Marianna Evenstein is an experienced moderator and host for conferences, corporate events, galas, and trade shows. Her clients include multinational corporations, start-ups, and non-profit organizations.
Marianna Evenstein also works for a number of media training companies coaching business leaders looking to sharpen their communication and interview skills.

© Maria Donde
Maria Donde
Head of International Content Policy, Ofcom
Maria Donde works for the UK Office of Communications (Ofcom) as the Head of International Content Policy, covering media, content and broadcasting issues. She leads on Ofcom’s engagement with other European media regulators, most particularly through EPRA (where is currently a Vice-Chair) as well as international bodies, and represents Ofcom on the full range of media policy questions. She oversaw Ofcom’s input into the recently concluded negotiations on the AVMS Directive and manages its relationship with the European Commission on matters relating to the Directive. She was recently elected as Chair of the Council of Europe Committee of Experts on Media Environment and Reform.
Her regulatory background is in advertising, having spent four years at the Advertising Standards Authority before joining Ofcom’s Broadcasting Standards department. Prior to that, she worked in media analysis, and before that as a radio producer for the BBC World Service. She has a Modern Languages degree from Cambridge University and a Masters degree in Literary Translation.

© WDR/Annika Fußwinkel
Tom Buhrow
Chairman of the ARD
Tom Buhrow is Chairman of the ARD and since 2013 Director General of Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR). As a trained journalist, he became known as the presenter of the nationwide ARD television news program “Tagesthemen” (2006-2013). From 1994 to 2002, he was ARD correspondent in Washington and from 2002 to 2006 he was also office manager of the ARD studio there. He also worked as ARD correspondent in Paris. He began his WDR career after completing his traineeship in the mid-1980s as editor, reporter and later as presenter of the regional program “Aktuelle Stunde”. Buhrow holds a master’s degree in history and political science from the Friedrich-Wilhelms-University of Bonn.

© LV RLP / Marc-Steffen Unger
Heike Raab
State Secretary, State Chancellery of Rhineland-Palatinate
Heike Raab, born 1965, initially worked as a member of the scientific staff in the German Bundestag following studies in politics and law, before assuming duties as a consultant in the office of the Minister-President of Rhineland-Palatinate, and subsequently in the SPD faction of the Bundestag. From 2001 to 2011, she was a member of the Landtag, and State Secretary in the Ministry of the Interior, for sports and infrastructure, as well as CIO of the state government from until 2015. Since July 2015, Heike Raab has been State Secretary in the State Chancellery of Rhineland-Palatinate and plenipotentiary for Federal and European Affairs, for Media and Digital Affairs of the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

© IMAGOECONOMICA
Giuseppe Abbamonte
Director – Media Policy, European Commission – DG for Communications Networks, Content and Technology
Giuseppe Abbamonte has been the Director for Media Policy at the European Commission since 2016.
Before then he was in charge of the Directorate responsible for the elaboration of the European Data Strategy.
In his former positions at the European Commission, he supervised and directed the elaboration of the European Cybersecurity Strategy and a European law on network and information security.
He worked many years in the Antitrust and Consumer Protection departments of the European Commission. As a result, he has acquired extensive proven experience in handling complex merger as well as State aid cases and has deep knowledge of consumer law.
Before joining the Commission, Giuseppe Abbamonte was an associate in an international law firm in Milan for four years (1989/1992), where he dealt mainly with commercial law and competition law.
He is the author of several publications mainly in English law magazines. He teaches media law to master students at the Bocconi University in Milan and gives lectures and presentations on European law at several European universities.

© Aura Salla, Photographer: Annika Miettinen
Aura Salla
Public Policy Director, Head of EU Affairs at Facebook Brussels
Aura Salla is Head of EU Affairs for Facebook, based in Brussels, Belgium. In her role she oversees Facebook’s engagement on EU policies with the European Institutions and Member States. Before joining Facebook, Aura was working in the European Commission as a Foreign Policy and Communications Adviser in the European Political Strategy Centre (EPSC), in-house think tank to President Jean-Claude Juncker.
Previously she served as a Member of Cabinet of Jyrki Katainen, European Commission Vice President responsible for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness. Before joining the Commission, she worked for the consultancy company Recommended Finland as a Project Manager specialising in Public Affairs and EU Communications and before that as a speechwriter and political adviser in the Finnish Parliament. From 2018-2020, she also served as a Chairwoman of the Party Council of the Coalition Party Finland / the EPP.
Aura Salla holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from the University of Turku, Finland.

© Steffi Roßdeutscher
Michael Seemann
Author and Journalist
Michael Seemann, born in 1977, has been active in various internet projects since 2005. In early 2010, he launched the blog CTRL-Verlust (Loss of CTRL) with the daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, writing about the loss of control over data on the internet; he has published it independently since September 2010. He produces the podcast Planet B – Ideen für den Neuanfang (Planet B: Ideas for the new beginning) with the podcast label Viertausendhertz. He also blogs at mspr0.de, produces podcasts at wir.muessenrede.de and writes for various media.
Seemann teaches at the University of Cologne and the Berlin University of the Arts. In 2016, he spoke before the German Bundestag as an expert on the issue of platform regulation. He lectures on whistleblowing, data protection, copyright, internet culture, platforms, and the crisis of institutions in an era of loss of digital control. Since 2017, he has been a member of the supervisory board of the Grimme Forschungskolleg. Together with like-minded persons, he founded the Otherwise Network in 2018 and has since served on its board.
Seemann majored in applied cultural studies in Lüneburg.