Laura Fichtner

Photo: Laura Fichtner (uneingeschränktes Nutzungsrecht), Fotografin Marianne Moosherr

Associated Researcher

Address

Contact

Email: laura.fichtner"AT"uni-hamburg.de

Research Interests

Platform Governance and Content Moderation
Cybersecurity & Data Protection
AI Ethics and Governance
Critical Information Studies
Media & Communication Studies
Science and Technology Studies
Philosophy and Ethics of Science and Technology

CV

Laura Fichtner is a PhD candidate and research associate with the Ethics in Information Technology research group at Universität Hamburg’s Department of Informatics. She researches and teaches on the intersections of information technology, ethics and politics. For her dissertation project, she studies content moderation, including issues of hate speech and disinformation, and its regulation in Germany.

In Spring 2020, Laura was a fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School's Program on Science, Technology & Society under a scholarship of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Prior to her appointment in Hamburg she was also a researcher in cybersecurity policy and data protection at the Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands.

Laura graduated with a Master’s degree from University of Twente's program in Philosophy of Science, Technology and Society where she specialized in ethics of technology and wrote her thesis on surveillance and internet governance. She also completed a Peacebuilding curriculum at Universität Hamburg and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology from the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology.

Publications

Peer reviewed:

Fichtner, L. (2022). Content moderation and the quest for democratic legitimacy. Weizenbaum Journal of the Digital Society 2 (2). https://ojs.weizenbaum-institut.de/index.php/wjds/article/view/2_2_2

Fichtner, L. (2018). What kind of cyber security? Theorising cyber security and mapping approaches. Internet Policy Review, 7(2). DOI: 10.14763/2018.2.788. https://policyreview.info/articles/analysis/what-kind-cyber-security-theorising-cyber-security-and-mapping-approaches

Fichtner, L., Pieters, W., & Teixeira, A. (2016, September). Cybersecurity as a Politikum: Implications of Security Discourses for Infrastructures. In Proceedings of the 2016 New Security Paradigms Workshop (pp. 36-48). ACM Digital Library. dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=3011887

Master thesis: Fichtner, L. Scientia est Potentia: Techno-Politics as Network(ed) Struggles. Master thesis. essay.utwente.nl/66530/

Interview for the Urban Technologies Block: https://urban-technologies.blogspot.com/2017/09/laura-fichtner-smart-city-of-flows.html

Selected Presentations

Conference & Workshop Presentations:

Moderating the Regulators/Regulating the Moderators - NetzDG and Online Content Moderation in Germany, Weizenbaum Conference 2021: Democracy in Flux - Order, Dynamic and Voices in Digital Public Spheres, Berlin, Germany (virtual event), June, 17th, 2020.
Content Moderation and Liberal Democracy, Annual Conference of the European Association for the Study of Science and Technology/Society for Social Studies of Science, Prague, Czech Republic (virtual event), August, 21st, 2020.
Undercurrents of the Marketplace of Ideas, Conference on Graduate Research in Science and Technology Studies, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA (virtual event), September, 5th, 2020.
The Framing and Politics of Cybersecurity, "AI Vulnerabilities: An Integral Look at Security for AI" Workshop, AI Now Institute, New York, USA, August, 23rd, 2019.
What kind of cybersecurity? Mapping Approaches to Cybersecurity, Conference of the Association of Internet Researchers, Tartu, Estonia, October, 20th, 2017.
Technological Discourses as Proxies for Political Struggles: The Case of Cyber-Securitization, 11th Pan-European Conference on International Relations - "The Politics of International Studies in the Age of Crises", Barcelona, September 15th, 2017.
A Smart City of Flows - How Smart Cities Can Shape Urban Experience and Creativity, Computer Ethics Philosophical Inquiry/Ethicomp Conference, University of Turin, May 6th, 2017.
On the Role of Frames a Narratives for Digital Media Politics, invited talk at the "Security and the Political Turn in the Philosophy of Technology" Workshop, University of Twente, March 10th, 2017.
Cybersecurity as a Politikum: Implications of Security Discourses for Infrastructures, "New Paradigms in Security" Workshop, Colorado, September 27th, 2016.
Techno-Politics as Network(ed) Struggles, presentation at the 5th ICTs and Society Conference, Vienna, June 5th, 2015, and at the Digital Citizenship and Surveillance Society Conference, Cardiff, June 19th, 2015.
Moral Obligations of Businesses within Global Technology Production: The Case of Conflict Minerals at the 18th Conference for Philosophy and Technology, Lissabon, July 2013.

Awards

Master Thesis Award 2015, Computer Scientists for Peace and Social Responsibility: Forum InformatikerInnen für Frieden und gesellschaftliche Verantwortung e.V. (FIfF)

Academic Service

since 07/2018: Member of the Ethics Commission of the Department of Informatics, Universität Hamburg

2021: Program committee member CEPE/IACAP Joint Conference 2021: The Philosophy and Ethics of Artificial Intelligence (2021)

2019: Program committee member New Paradigms in Security Workshop (NSPW)

2017: Program committee member Workshop on Ethics in Natural Language Processing

Memberships

Affiliated member at the 4TU.Centre for Ethics and Technology, The Netherlands

Teaching

WS 21/22

64-111 Scientific Methods and Research Ethics in Computer Science

SoSe 21

64-126 Politics of Objectivity - Information Technology, Identity & Social Order

WS 20/21

64-111 Scientific Methods and Research Ethics in Computer Science
64-639 Seminar Lecture Series "Taming the Machines"

SoSe20

64-168 Digital Publics - On the Role of Science and Technology for Publics and Political System

WS 19/20

64-655	Data & Research Ethics
64-111	Introduction to academic writing and presentation (in German)

SoSe 19

64-641	Seminar Philosophy, Society and Information Technology (in German)
64-111	Introduction to academic writing and presentation (in German)

WS 18/19

64-457	Seminar Computer Science - Inbetween Science and Engineering (in German)
64-111	Introduction to academic writing and presentation (in German)

SoSe 18

64-641	Seminar Philosophy, Society and Information Technology (in German)
64-111	Introduction to writing and presentation techniques (in German)

WS 17/18

64-642	Political and ethical perspectives on (cyber)security, surveillance and privacy (in German)
64-111	Introduction to writing and presentation techniques (in German)

04/2017
Guest Lecturer, Money as Medium and Technology, Department of Philosophy, University of Vienna

11/2016- 02/2017
Teaching Assistant Security & Technology, Leiden University & Delft University of Technology

12/2015
Guest Lecture Surveillance & Technology, Leiden University & Delft University of Technology

Thesis Supervision:

ongoing: Influence of Transparency in Algorithmic Content Moderation on Digital Public Sphere; Regulation of Fake News and Hate Speech through Legal Instruments in Germany and Kenya; Comparative Analysis of Covid19 Contact Tracing Apps in Germany

06/2021-04/2021: Artificial Artificial Intelligence: An Analysis of Hidden Microwork in AI Capitalism

04/2019-08/2020: Data Ethics in Computer Science Research

11/2018-07/2019: Design of News Feeds for the Support of Opinion Formation on Social Media

08/2018 - 05/2019: Responsible Disclosure for Cybersecurity Vulnerabilities

06/2018 - 03/2019: Co-supervision Fail Safe Scenarios for Civil Drones

10/2016- 08/2017
Master Thesis Supervision: Cybersecurity Requirements Engineering in Technology Development, Faculty of Technology, Policy & Management, Delft University of Technology