Prior to joining Golem.de, he served as head of the Internet Freedom Desk at Reporters Without Borders Germany. He was also a research associate at the Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS), where he still serves as a policy fellow. His research at MERICS focused on cybersecurity and internet governance in China. Before that, he contributed to the work of the Open Knowledge Foundation. Hauke holds a degree in both political science and sinology from the University of Trier.