Harvard shuts down 'misinformation' program and releases director skeptical of ... trends now

Harvard shuts down 'misinformation' program and releases director skeptical of ... trends now
Harvard shuts down 'misinformation' program and releases director skeptical of ... trends now

Harvard shuts down 'misinformation' program and releases director skeptical of ... trends now

Harvard has scrapped its 'misinformation' research program and has severed its ties with the project's controversial director, who used her position to cast doubt over the Hunter Biden laptop story

The project's leader Dr Joan Donavan is a so-called expert in the dangers of social media misinformation, and has publicly challenged the Hunter Biden laptop story during her time at the university. 

She led the project since its inception in 2019 with the aim to 'help newsroom leaders fight misinformation and media manipulation'.

Donavan used her role to cast doubt over the media's coverage of the Hunter Biden laptop story, which saw the president's son's missing laptop appear in a Delaware repair shop containing a treasure trove of illicit images and damaging emails from his work at Ukrainian energy company Burisma.  

The story was notably suppressed by several major media corporations ahead of the 2020 presidential election. 

Dr Joan Donavan has consistently championed Democrats through her role as a 'misinformation' expert

Dr Joan Donavan has consistently championed Democrats through her role as a 'misinformation' expert

Donavan frequently cast doubt over the veracity of the Hunter Biden laptop story, previously branding it a 'straw man' in an April 2022 tweet

Donavan frequently cast doubt over the veracity of the Hunter Biden laptop story, previously branding it a 'straw man' in an April 2022 tweet

Hunter Biden has been accused of intimidation amid the backlash to a story about him leaving a laptop containing damaging emails in a Delaware repair shop

Hunter Biden has been accused of intimidation amid the backlash to a story about him leaving a laptop containing damaging emails in a Delaware repair shop

The director of Harvard's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy announced the institution was cutting ties with Donovan in an email obtained by Semafor. 

The email stated that the Technology and Social Change Project, which studied disinformation online, was being shuttered for what the outlet referred to as 'bureaucratic reasons.'

'The Kennedy School’s standing policy is that all research projects must be led by a full faculty member,' said the email.

'While there can be limited exceptions, those can’t continue indefinitely without a faculty member as the principal project leader and academic head.

According to her Harvard staff page, Donavan supposedly 'leads the field in examining internet and technology studies, online extremism, media manipulation and disinformation campaigns.' 

Alongside her focus on the Hunter Biden laptop story, she has also analyzed topics including white nationalism and social change activism online. 

Donavan has become a loyal servant of Democrat causes during her time at Harvard, but has now seen her ties to the university severed

Donavan has become a loyal servant of Democrat causes during her time at Harvard, but has now seen her ties to the university severed 

The 'misinformation' specialist has also made repeated visits to the White House

The 'misinformation' specialist has also made repeated visits to the White House 

Donavan utilized her position within the Harvard project to cast doubt over the Hunter Biden laptop story's veracity after it was first published by the New York Post on the eve of the 2020 presidential election. 

Despite the story being stood up in the years following its original publication, Donavan remained defiant in her public skepticism. 

In a tweet from April 2022, a year and a half after the story first broke, she slated the story as a 'straw man' point for those who oppose President Biden. 

Alongside a photograph where she is pictured next to Charlie Warzel, a staff writer for

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