Noël Oppel is a researcher within the Professorship Organisations and Social Media. Her work focuses on children’s rights in the digital world, and she has a particular interest in child influencing on social media and the legal challenges related to it.
Originally from Utrecht, Noël moved to the north of the Netherlands for her studies and liked it so much that she never left. What drew her in and ultimately made her stay in Leeuwarden was the very interesting interdisciplinary research focus present across different research groups.
Noël studied IT Law as part of her Bachelor’s degree after which she went on to complete a Master’s in Legal Research. During her studies she gained experience in the legal sector, such as working for a bailiff and she later also contributed to multiple legal research projects.
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Within the professorship, Noël is currently preparing for her PhD project on child influencing. Her research focuses on both the experiences of child influencers and the analysis of the content they create. By combining this data, she wishes to better understand how child influencing relates to children’s rights.
Her main areas of expertise are child and family law and digital children’s rights, which she developed through her research in these fields. She is greatly interested in the fast developments on social media platforms and the legal questions they raise, especially when it comes to vulnerable groups such as children. Through her research, Noël hopes to not only to protect children online, but also to create space for them to flourish in the digital world.