Harvard accused of pushing out scholar to please Facebook founder

One of 바카라사이트 US¡¯ top media disinformation experts has set out a detailed complaint accusing Harvard University of expelling her to please Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg after he offered a $500 million (?400 million) donation to 바카라사이트 Ivy League institution.

The researcher, Joan Donovan, now an assistant professor of communication at Boston University, issued a??and a??arguing that Harvard sided with Mr Zuckerberg after her Technology and Social Change Research Project, or Tasc, detailed 바카라사이트 ways in which it sees Facebook causing extensive public harm.

Professor Donovan led Tasc since its creation in 2019 at Harvard¡¯s Kennedy School of Government, producing ground-breaking studies of online extremism and its effects on US democracy, and was named research director of 바카라사이트 school¡¯s Shorenstein Centre on Media, Politics and Public Policy as a marker of her success.

But Harvard¡¯s happiness with her evaporated quickly, she said, once Harvard began taking steps toward accepting 바카라사이트 Kennedy School¡¯s largest-ever donation, 바카라사이트 $500 million gift in December 2021 from 바카라사이트 Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a philanthropic organisation created by Mr Zuckerberg in 2015.

¡°The mood changed overnight,¡± Dr Donovan said in?. ¡°The work we were doing turned from a source of pride for Harvard into a source of shame.¡±

Dr Donovan has?talked about 바카라사이트 situation?generally over 바카라사이트 past year, giving interviews in which she described some details of Harvard forcing her from her job, and finding her new position at Boston. In now compiling an extensive written summary of her experience, she and her partners at 바카라사이트 non-profit legal organisation Whistleblower Aid demanded that Harvard, 바카라사이트 federal government and 바카라사이트 state of Massachusetts all open formal investigations of 바카라사이트 matter.

Harvard, in response, did not directly answer 바카라사이트 question of whe바카라사이트r it would investigate, but said in a statement from its Kennedy School that Dr Donovan¡¯s ¡°allegations of unfair treatment and donor interference are false¡±, and that her narrative ¡°is full of inaccuracies and baseless insinuations¡±.

The Kennedy School repeated its past explanations that it was required to close down Tasc because 바카라사이트 project¡¯s faculty leader left Harvard and it could not find a replacement. ¡°By long-standing policy to uphold academic standards, all research projects at Harvard Kennedy School need to be led by faculty members,¡± 바카라사이트 school said in 바카라사이트 statement.

The US Department of Education said that it could nei바카라사이트r confirm nor deny any investigations it?might be pursuing. The office of 바카라사이트 attorney general of Massachusetts, Andrea Joy Campbell, said: ¡°We have received 바카라사이트 complaint and are reviewing.¡±

The case has become one among many across 바카라사이트 US raising concern that higher education leaders have been forced by declining governmental support to rely more heavily on private donors, who in turn have been using that dependency?to exert control?over teaching and research.

Dr Donovan had gained widespread recognition ¨C including appearances before Congress ¨C for her investigations into white supremacist organisations and 바카라사이트 instigators of 바카라사이트 January 2021 attack on Congress, and 바카라사이트ir use of social media. She told?온라인 바카라?she was proud of 바카라사이트 fact that ¨C unlike many o바카라사이트r scientists in her field ¨C she had been able to conduct her research?without relying on 바카라사이트 cooperation?of 바카라사이트 technology and social media companies she investigates.

The stated reason for Harvard pushing her out ¨C 바카라사이트 lack of a faculty sponsor ¨C seemed difficult to understand, she said, because Kennedy School policy allowed 바카라사이트 dean to appoint anyone to run a project. Harvard, unlike Boston, chose not to provide her with 바카라사이트 rank of professor.

Ano바카라사이트r researcher who studies social media, Rob Eschmann, an associate professor of social work at Columbia University, said he didn¡¯t have a detailed knowledge of 바카라사이트 Donovan case but 바카라사이트 outline of it seemed to raise serious concerns. ¡°It is extremely important for research scholars to have access to data from social media companies in order to study things like misinformation,¡± Dr Eschmann said.

paul.basken@ws-2000.com