IPN’s Olaf Köller to co-chair German government expert committee on protecting children online

Karin Prien, Germany’s Federal Minister of Education, has announced the establishment of an expert committee on “Protecting Children and Young People in the Digital World.” The committee, comprising sixteen members who are variously academics and practitioners, is to commence its work in the fall of 2025, and will seek to draw up specific recommendations for protecting children and young people effectively in the age of online media.

The co-chairs of the committee are Prof. Dr. Olaf Köller, Managing Director of Research at the Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education (IPN) in Kiel, and Nadine Schön, a former member of the German federal parliament for the political party CDU, who specializes in education policy, policies for young people, and digital policy. Prof. Köller, as co-chair of Germany’s Standing Scientific Commission on Education Policy, brings to the new role his experience in advising policymakers  and in giving his expert opinion on education policy issues such as digitalization in the education system.

“We need to comprehensively boost media education for our children and young people Germany-wide, to ensure that they can grow up in good health and mature successfully with sound skills in using digital and online media. I’m pleased that the committee will be drawing up recommendations on this subject.”

Prof. Dr. Olaf Köller, co-chair of the new expert committee

The committee’s objective is to create a strategy for “protecting children and young people in the digital world,” to include specific recommendations for relevant actors, such as federal and state-level authorities and civil society stakeholders. Among the topics the committee will explore are the conditions that need to be in place if children and young people are to be safe online, the health impacts of engaging with online and digital media, and how to support children, young people, their parents, and relevant professionals to develop skills for navigating the digital and online world.

Karin Prien, German Federal Minister of Education, said: “Ensuring that children and young people receive effective protection in the online world is a key challenge for our times. In establishing the expert committee on “Protecting Children and Young People in the Digital World,” we are realizing a commitment made in the coalition agreement [concluded between the governing parties CDU/CSU and SPD after the most recent federal election] and laying the foundations for taking firm and vital action in this area. Our aim is to have a digital and online environment in which young people can grow up in safety and develop freely. We have made a conscious choice to include representatives of various disciplines on the committee, alongside practitioners working with young people, and to make sure that government authorities at all levels and all relevant stakeholders are involved.”

An advisory board will secure the input of the German federal states into the committee’s work. Among the stakeholders who will take part as observers are the Independent Federal Commissioner Against Child Sexual Abuse, the Commissioner of the Federal Government for Drug and Addiction Policy, and the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media. The committee will also call on the assistance of further experts, civil society representatives, and the Broadcasting Commission of the Länder, and will actively engage young people in its work.

Announcement on the committee’s establishment, German Federal Press Conference, September 4, 2025

You can not view this content at this moment because you have selected to disable youtube cookies in the privacy settings.

The members of the committee are:

  • Nadine Schön (co-chair), former member of the German federal parliament; specializes in policy on education, digitalization, and youth
  • Prof. Dr. Olaf Köller (co-chair), Managing Director of Research, Leibniz Institute for Science and Mathematics Education (IPN), Kiel
  • Prof. Dr. Yvonne Anders, professor of early childhood education, University of Bamberg
  • Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Sabine Andresen, president, Child Protection Association in Germany (Kinderschutzbund)
  • Dr. Annika Baumann, lead, research group on Well-being in the Digital World, Weizenbaum Institute of research into digitalization, Berlin
  • Prof. Dr. Reinhard Berner, director, Department of Pediatrics, Carl Gustav Carus University Hospital, Dresden
  • Dr. Susanne Eggert, head of research department, JFF – Institute for Media Research and Media Education, Munich
  • Dr. Marc Jan Eumann, director, Media Authority “Medienanstalt Rheinland-Pfalz”; chair, Commission for the Protection of Minors in the Media
  • Prof. Dr. Jörg M. Fegert, medical director, Clinic for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychosomatics and Psychotherapy, Ulm University Hospital
  • Stefan Glaser, director, jugendschutz.net
  • Sebastian Gutknecht, director, Bundeszentrale für Kinder- und Jugendmedienschutz (German federal agency for the protection of young media users)
  • Dr. Michael Hubmann, president, Berufsverband der Kinder- und Jugendärzte (professional association of pediatricians in Germany)
  • Dr. Claudia Lampert, co-lead, “Knowledge for the Media Society” research program, Leibniz Institute for Media Research│Hans-Bredow-Institut, Hamburg
  • Prof. Dr. Marc Liesching, professor of media law and media theory, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences
  • Prof. Dr. Thomas-Gabriel Rüdiger, head, Institute for Cybercriminology, Police University of the State of Brandenburg
  • Prof. Dr. Judith Simon, Professor for Ethics in Information Technology, University of Hamburg
  • Prof. Dr. Rolf Schwartmann, head, Kölner Forschungsstelle für Medienrecht (Research Center on Media Law), TH Köln University of Applied Sciences
  • Prof. Dr. Klaus Zierer, professor of education, Augsburg University