Disinformation Researcher Accuses Harvard of Suppressing Her Work After Meta Funding

Joan Donovan alleges her civil rights were violated and her research project was targeted after the university received funding from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.

Joan Donovan, a disinformation scholar, accuses Harvard University’s Kennedy School of suppressing her research and violating her civil rights after receiving funding from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI), run by Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan.
Donovan's research focused on media manipulation and its disruptive effects on democracy and society. Her team was allegedly targeted and her work diminished after CZI's funding.
Harvard denies the allegations of unfair treatment and donor interference, stating that Donovan's project was shut down due to the lack of a faculty member to lead it.
Donovan, who has since left Harvard for Boston University, was allegedly offered a part-time adjunct lecturer position after her research project was shut down.
Donovan's legal complaint draws parallels between her case and prior industry campaigns of Big Tobacco, Oil and Gas, and Big Pharma, which allegedly manipulated institutions into producing research products that supported their respective industries.