Misinformation expert alleges Meta influence led to Harvard termination

Joan Donovan claims funding was halted for criticizing Meta while the university received $500m from Mark Zuckerberg’s charity

One of the leading experts on misinformation claims she was terminated by Harvard University for criticizing Meta during a period when the university was promised $500 million from Mark Zuckerberg’s charity. Joan Donovan asserts that her funding was terminated, hindering her ability to hire assistants, and she became the target of a smear campaign by Harvard employees. In a legal filing with the US education department and the Massachusetts attorney general, initially reported by the Washington Post, she contends that her right to free speech was violated. These contentious allegations are connected to Donovan’s release of the Facebook papers, a significant leak of 22,000 pages of Facebook’s internal documents by whistleblower Frances Haugen, a former employee of the company.

Donovan, deeming them to be of immense public interest, initiated the publication of the Facebook papers on Harvard’s website, providing open access to anyone interested.

“Since that moment, I faced differential treatment from the university, ultimately leading to my termination,” Donovan informed the Logic.

In an October 2021 meeting of the dean’s council advising the Harvard Kennedy School, where Donovan was employed, the former head of Facebook communications, Elliot Schrage, purportedly asserted that Facebook “should not be the arbiter of truth,” according to Semafor. Just over a week later, the dean, Douglas Elmendorf, sent an email to Donovan, questioning her approach to studying misinformation in a context “when there is no independent arbiter of truth (in this country or others) and constitutional protections of speech (in some countries).”

Donovan included the email in her complaint, noting that Zuckerberg frequently uses the term “arbiter of truth.” Last year, she was informed that her primary project would be phased out, and this year, the school eliminated her position.

In an email to the Washington Post, the Harvard Kennedy School stated that Donovan’s departure was unrelated to Meta.

It stated that it faced difficulties in securing a faculty sponsor, a university policy. The statement clarified that Donovan was not terminated but was offered the opportunity to continue as a part-time adjunct lecturer, which she declined.

Donovan had gained recognition, in part, by testifying before Congress and publicly addressing how the dissemination of misinformation financially benefited tech companies.

The legal filing was prepared with the support of Whistleblower Aid, a Washington-based organization that also assisted Frances Haugen, who claimed that Meta was aware its platforms facilitated the spread of harmful misinformation.

Donovan alleges that Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, both Harvard alumni, have contributed hundreds of millions of dollars, pledging $500m to the school’s Kempner Institute for the Study of Natural and Artificial Intelligence.

The filing contends, “There are a handful of tried and true means to coerce someone or some entity to do something they would not otherwise do, and influence through financial compensation is at or near the top of the list.” It asserts that objectively, $500m represents a significant financial influence.