(CNN) 鈥� A nationally recognized聽online聽disinformation聽researcher has accused Harvard University of shutting down聽the project聽she led to protect its relationship with mega-donor and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
The allegations, made by Dr. Joan Donovan, raise questions about the influence the tech giant might have over seemingly independent research. Facebook鈥檚 parent company Meta has long sought to defend itself against research that implicates it in harming society: from the proliferation of election disinformation to creating addictive habits in children. Details of the disclosure were first reported by .
Beginning in 2018,聽Donovan聽worked for聽the Shorenstein Center at Harvard University鈥檚 John F. Kennedy School of Government,聽and ran聽its Technology and Social Change Research Project, where she led studies of media manipulation campaigns.聽But last year Harvard informed Donovan it was shutting the project down,聽Donovan claims.
In a 聽sent聽last week to Harvard leaders and US Education Secretary Miguel Cardona聽and made public on Monday, Donovan alleges that the University began聽restricting聽her research after the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative聽 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 is strongly disputing Dr. Donovan鈥檚 claims. James Francis Smith, a spokesperson for the university said in a statement to CNN Monday, 鈥渁llegations of unfair treatment and donor interference are false. The narrative is full of inaccuracies and baseless insinuations, particularly the suggestion that Harvard Kennedy School allowed Facebook to dictate its approach to research.鈥�
鈥淏y longstanding policy to uphold academic standards, all research projects at Harvard Kennedy School need to be led by faculty members. Joan Donovan was hired as a staff member (not a faculty member) to manage a media manipulation project. When the original faculty leader of the project left Harvard, the School tried for some time to identify another faculty member鈥痺ho had鈥痶ime and interest鈥痶o lead the project. After that鈥痚ffort did not succeed, the鈥痯roject was given more than a year to wind down. Joan Donovan was not fired, and most members of the research team chose to remain at the School in new roles,鈥� he said.
He added that Harvard continues to research misinformation and social media鈥檚 role in it, pointing out Harvard hosts and made available to the public the Facebook former Facebook employee Frances Haugen in a separate whistleblower complaint in October 2021, known as the .鈥� Harvard also runs an on misinformation.
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative said it had no involvement in Donovan鈥檚 departure from Harvard.
鈥淐ZI 鈥� was unaware of that development before public reporting on it,鈥� a Chan Zuckerberg Initiative spokesperson said in a statement.
Meta declined to comment. CNN has also reached out to the US Department of Education. The Massachusetts Attorney General鈥檚 office said it had received the disclosure and was reviewing it.
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative donation came shortly after Haugen鈥檚 blockbuster complaint, the disclosure states. Following the release of the Facebook Papers, Donovan was involved in an effort to help the documents and make them publicly available to researchers, students, policymakers and journalists.
鈥淭his is a shocking betrayal of Harvard鈥檚 academic integrity and the public interest,鈥� Libby Liu, the CEO of Whistleblower Aid, a nonprofit legal group that previously worked with the Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen.
The disclosure, which was sent on Donovan鈥檚 behalf by Whistleblower Aid and is addressed to Harvard President Claudine Gay, Harvard General Counsel聽and Vice President聽Diane Lopez聽and Cardona, seeks an investigation into the Kennedy School鈥檚 activity and 鈥渁ll appropriate corrective action鈥� to protect academic freedom.
鈥淲e鈥檝e seen in the past how Big Tobacco, Big Energy and Big Pharma have succeeded in influencing, undermining, and co-opting research to protect their lies, their profits and evade accountability. Now Meta, with the complicity of a powerful ally, is following the same playbook,鈥� Liu said. 鈥淲hether Harvard acted at the company鈥檚 direction or took the initiative on their own to protect Meta鈥檚 interests, the outcome is the same: corporate interests are undermining research and academic freedom to the detriment of the public.鈥�
Donovan joined the Shorenstein Center in 2018. During Donovan鈥檚 time at Harvard, the center released research reports about online Covid-19 and other medical misinformation campaigns; Donovan published the book 鈥淢eme Wars鈥� about how far-right actors use online memes to undermine American democracy;聽and聽Donovan聽聽about聽online misinformation and聽how social media algorithms can shape societal discourse. Donovan has also frequently聽been cited as an expert in online information manipulation in news reports, including by CNN.
In February, the student-led Harvard Crimson聽聽that the Kennedy School was ending聽Donovan鈥檚 Technology and Social Change Project聽and restricting Donovan from raising new funding or conducting additional聽hiring. At the time, the school pointed to a rule that required such projects to be led by faculty members, which Donovan was聽not.
In August, Donovan announced that she would join Boston University鈥檚 College of Communication as an assistant professor, officially ending her affiliation with Harvard Kennedy School. She聽聽that she 鈥渉ad to leave鈥� because she felt the Kennedy School 鈥渄idn鈥檛 back me as a scholar.鈥�
This story has been updated with additional developments.
The-CNN-Wire
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