A Harvard researcher has accused the university of shutting down a media disinformation project she led in order to protect its relationship with mega-donor and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
The allegations by Dr. Joan Donovan raise questions about the influence that the tech giant might have over seemingly independent research, my colleagues Donie O'Sullivan and Clare Duffy write.
Key background
Beginning in 2018, Donovan worked for the Shorenstein Center at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, and ran its Technology and Social Change Research Project, where she led studies of media manipulation campaigns.
Last year, Harvard informed Donovan it was shutting the project down, Donovan says.
In a disclosure made public Monday, Donovan alleges that the University began restricting her research after the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative donated $500 million to fund a new university-wide center on artificial intelligence. (The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is the philanthropy run by Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, who both attended Harvard.)
Harvard disputes Dr. Donovan's claims. A spokesperson for the university said in a statement to CNN Monday that "allegations of unfair treatment and donor interference are false."
The spokesperson said Donovan, who was not on the faculty, was not fired, but that the project lacked a faculty member to lead it. He added that Harvard continues to research misinformation and social media's role in it.
Meta declined to comment.
Why it matters
Meta has long sought to defend itself against research that implicates it in harming society, whether in the form of rampant election misinformation or creating addictive habits in children.
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative donation came shortly after a Facebook whistleblower, Frances Haugen, went public in 2021 with a trove of documents that show how "Facebook's products harm children, stoke division, and weaken our democracy," according to Haugen.
Donovan is seeking an investigation into the Kennedy School's activity and "all appropriate corrective action" to protect academic freedom, according to the disclosure.
Libby Liu, the CEO of Whistleblower Aid, which released the statement on Donovan's behalf, compared Meta to Big Tobacco or Big Pharma's history of "influencing, undermining, and co-opting research to protect their lies, their profits and evade accountability."
"Whether Harvard acted at the company's direction or took the initiative on their own to protect Meta's interests, the outcome is the same: Corporate interests are undermining research and academic freedom to the detriment of the public," Liu said.
Donie and Clare have the full story here.
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