Towards a Protective Ecosystem for Children Online: Business Models, Incentives and a More Coherent EU Framework 

As the International Affairs Director at Coimisiún na Meán, the media and online safety regulator in Ireland, Maria leads its programme of international engagement, overseeing relationships with European and global institutions. She represents an Coimisiún on the full range of online platform and media regulatory and policy questions. Prior to her current role, she worked for six years as the Head of International Content Policy at the UK’s Communications regulator, Ofcom where, among other things, she was responsible for Ofcom’s input into the negotiations on the 2018 AVMS Directive and its response to the original consultations on the Digital Services Act. She served as a member of the Board of the European Platform of Regulatory Authorities (EPRA) from 2018-2024 and has worked extensively as an expert member of Council of Europe working groups, developing recommendations on media policy, including chairing the Council of Europe Committee of Experts on Media Environment and Reform.

Previously, Maria worked in advertising regulation and as a radio producer for the BBC World Service. She has a Bachelors Degree in Modern Languages from Cambridge University and a Masters Degree in Literary Translation.

Educated as a lawyer in Germany, Martin gained a Master Degree in EU law and European business regulation from the University of Oxford before starting his career in the media, digital and telecoms sectors.

During his time in the Commission, Martin has been advising on many matters linked with the Digital Single Market, both from a regulatory as well as a policy development side, including on telecommunications regulation, the digital transformation of Europe’s industry, the Artificial Intelligence Act, and the Commission’s Digital and Data Strategies. Most recently, Martin joined the Commission’s Directorate in charge of implementing and enforcing the Digital Services Act (DSA) where he leads, as the Head of Sector, the team on the protection of minors, one of the key enforcement priorities under the DSA.

Before joining the European Commission in 2010, Martin worked as a legal consultant to a major, internationally active telecommunications and digital services provider in London and as a senior legal adviser for the UK’s telecoms, media and broadcasting regulator, Ofc

Manon Letouche is the Head of EU Affairs at 5Rights Foundation, an international NGO dedicated to the protection of minors in the digital environment.

Before joining 5Rights in 2025, she worked for the Belgian media regulatory authority and served as Head of Cabinet to the Belgian (FR) Minister for Children, Culture and Media between 2019 and 2024.

Rafaela Nicolazzi leads privacy, and consumer protection work for OpenAI’s Global Affairs team in EMEA, helping shape responsible AI development and collaboration with policymakers, civil society, academia and regulators. Prior to OpenAI, she spent more than 12 years at Google, driving initiatives on AI, data governance, and user safety within the Government Affairs & Public Policy team.

Jan Krämer is an Academic Co-Director at CERRE and a Professor at the University of Passau, Germany, where he holds the chair of Internet & Telecommunications Business.

Previously, he headed a research group on telecommunications markets at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), where he also obtained a diploma degree in Business and Economics Engineering with a focus on computer science, telematics and operations research, and a Ph.D. in Economics, both with distinction.

He is editor and author of several interdisciplinary books on the regulation of telecommunications markets and has published numerous articles in the premier scholarly journals in Information Systems, Economics, Management and Marketing research on issues such as net neutrality, data and platform economy, and the design of electronic markets.

Professor Krämer has served as academic consultant for leading firms in the telecommunications and Internet industry, as well as for governmental institutions, such as the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and the European Commission.

His current research focuses on the role of data for competition and innovation in online markets and the regulation of online platforms.

Michèle Ledger is a researcher at the Research Centre in Information, Law and Society (CRIDS) of the University of Namur where she also lectures on the regulatory aspects of online platforms at the postmaster degree course. She has been working for more than twenty years at Cullen International and leads the company’s Media regulatory intelligence service.

Alexandre de Streel is academic director of the digital research programme at the Brussels think-tank Centre on Regulation in Europe (CERRE), professor of European law at the University of Namur and visiting professor at the College of Europe (Bruges) and SciencesPo Paris. He sits in the scientific boards of Centre for a Digital Society of the European University Institute (Italy), the Centre for Competition Policy of the University of East Anglia (UK), the Knight-Georgetown Institute (US), and the Mannheim Centre for Competition and Innovation (Germany).

His main research areas are regulation and competition policy in the digital economy (telecommunications, platforms and data) as well as the legal issues raised by the developments of artificial intelligence. He regulatory advises the European Union and international organisations on digital regulation.

Previously, Alexandre held visiting positions at New York University Law School, European University Institute in Florence, Panthéon-Assas (Singapore campus), Barcelona Graduate School of Economics and the University of Louvain. He also worked for the Belgian Deputy Prime Minister, the Belgian Permanent Representation to the European Union and the European Commission and has been the chair the expert group on the online platform economy advising the European Commission.