Dr. Philip Di Salvo

Dr. Philip Di Salvo is a Senior Researcher and lecturer at the Institute for Media and Communications Management (MCM) at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland. Philip joined the Human Error Project in late 2022 as a post-doctoral researcher and contributed to the project’s work package dedicated to journalism. In 2024 and 2025, he also authored and coordinated the “Machines That Fail Us” podcast series. Philip’s main research interests are investigative journalism, Internet surveillance, black box technologies and the relationship between journalism and hacking. Previously, he was a Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)’s Department of Media and Communications (2021-2022) and he held different research and teaching positions at Università della Svizzera italiana (USI)’s Institute of Media and Journalism (2012-2021). Philip has also worked as a Lecturer at NABA – New Academy of Fine Arts in Milan, Italy (2018-2020). Philip received his PhD in Communication Sciences from USI with a dissertation about the adoption of encrypted whistleblowing platforms in journalism in 2018. In the summer of 2024, Philip has also been a Visiting Fellow in Harvard University’s Department of Anthropology.vAs a freelance journalist, Philip writes for various publications covering the social impacts of technology and has authored two books: “Leaks. Whistleblowing e hacking nell’età senza segreti” (LUISS University Press, Rome, 2019) and “Digital Whistleblowing Platforms in Journalism. Encrypting Leaks” (Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2020).