"How free is the internet?" Dr Stefan Münker posed this question in his lecture "De/regulation of the Internet as a communication space" as part of the Integrated Media guest lecture series.

The Internet currently has a very ambivalent presence in the media: on the one hand, the role of social networks in democratisation processes is praised, while on the other, the Internet is scolded as a haven for illegal activities. Münker uses current examples to clarify a number of myths surrounding the Internet and the communication that takes place online. He emphasises that the Internet is not virtual, but highly material and can therefore be controlled and regulated. However, the participative media of Web 2.0 are only just emerging thanks to the users, who are constantly experimenting with the possibilities of communication in new ways. Countless forms of communication with very different characteristics are emerging here. Preventing this participation through regulatory intervention would mean bringing the communicative dynamics of the digital public sphere to a standstill.

Münker states that the net is not free, but that communication on the net must be open, otherwise it is not net communication.

Münker thus joins the previous contributions to the Integrated Media guest lecture series. In summer semester 11, Prof Tim Renner also spoke of a loss of control, which offers new opportunities in the digital sphere.