Newly composed Advisory Council of the Digital Services Coordinator elects new Chair at first meeting
Year of issue 2026
Date of issue 2026.01.27
The newly composed Advisory Council of the Digital Services Coordinator (DSC) has taken up its work today with its first meeting. The Council has elected Professor Henrike Weiden as its Chair and Svea Windwehr as its Vice Chair.
The representatives from academia, industry and civil society advise the DSC in carrying out its tasks and strengthen the dialogue between academia and practice.
Advisory Council as an independent expert body
The members of the Advisory Council were nominated by the German Bundestag and were appointed by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy in consultation with the Federal Ministry for Digital Transformation and Government Modernisation on 9 December 2025. The DSC is grateful to all former members of the Advisory Council for their commitment and constructive work in the first working period, providing solid support for the key tasks of digital regulation during the body’s initial phase.
The Advisory Council currently comprises the following members:
Representatives from academia
- Professor Christina Elmer, TU Dortmund University, Institute for Journalism
- Professor Franz Hofmann LLM (Cambridge), Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Institute of Law and Technology
- Dr Tobias Mast, Leibniz Institute for Media Research Hans Bredow Institute (HBI)
- Professor Henrike Weiden LLM (Kyushu), University of Applied Sciences Munich, Department of Business Administration
Representatives from industry associations
- Susanne Dehmel, Managing Director, Bitkom e.V.
- Dirk Freytag, President, German Association for the Digital Economy (BVDW)
- Alexander Rabe, Managing Director, eco – Association of the Internet Industry
Representatives from civil society
- Lina Ehrig, Federation of German Consumer Organisations (vzbz)
- Markus Hartmann, General Public Prosecutor’s Office Cologne (ZAC NRW)
- Dr Simone Ruf, Society for Civil Rights (GFF)
- Siegfried Schneider, former Minister of State
- Svea Windwehr, D64 – Center for Digital Progress
The Advisory Council advises the DSC and the other competent authorities on fundamental matters relating to the application and enforcement of the European Digital Services Act (DSA). It makes recommendations for the effective and consistent implementation of the DSA and introduces topics such as the handling of data to the work of 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 DSC at the Bundesnetzagentur is the central coordinating body responsible for enforcement of the DSA and thus for all intermediary services established in Germany. It acts as a central point for complaints by online users about infringements of the DSA and coordinates cooperation between competent authorities in Germany and the EU. The DSC also certifies out-of-court dispute settlement bodies and trusted flaggers. It handles applications by researchers to gain access to the data of very large online platforms and search engines.
In its enforcement of the DSA, the DSC works together with the Federal Agency for Child and Youth Protection in the Media (BzKJ), the media authorities of the federal states, the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI), the European Commission and the DSCs of other Member States.
Further information about the DSC and the Advisory Council is available at www.dsc.bund.de (German web pages).