John Albert is an associate researcher at the Institute for Information Law (IViR) where he contributes to the Digital Services Act (DSA) Observatory—an independent hub for scholarly input and expert discussions around this landmark legislation. His research examines the practical application of the DSA’s risk-based approach to platform governance, and how this impacts fundamental rights and democratic discourse.

Previously, he worked at AlgorithmWatch, a nonprofit watchdog based in Berlin and Zürich, where he advocated for civil society perspectives in public debates and supported the DSA’s framework for platform accountability and risk oversight. Prior to that, he was a research fellow at the Hertie School Centre for Digital Governance, where he earned a master's degree in public policy in 2021.  

John also holds a master’s from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where he graduated in 2014. Early in his career, he worked as a video journalist in McClatchy’s Wichita newsroom, covering the 2016 U.S. presidential election and witnessing the hostile effects of political polarization. He later transitioned to producing branded content amid the news industry’s ‘pivot to video,’ learning firsthand how the platform economy impacted the news business. These formative experiences pushed him to examine the intersections of media power, technology, and governance—connecting to his current work on European platform regulation.