Joan Donovan

Education Donovan earned her Ph.D. in sociology and science studies from the University of California, San Diego. She was a post-doctoral fellow at the Institute for Society and Genetics at University of California, Los Angeles, where her research focus was social movements, technology, and the use of DNA ancestry tests by white supremacists.

Career She later held the role of research lead for the Media Manipulation Initiative at Data and Society, an independent nonprofit research institute, that mapped how interest groups, governments, political operatives, corporations, and others use the internet and media to disrupt social institutions.

After Data and Society, Donovan went on to Harvard Kennedy School, leading its Technology and Social Change Research Project and teaching a class entitled, Media Manipulation and Disinformation Campaigns.

In September 2023, she was hired as a tenure-track faculty member by the Boston University College of Communication and given the title of assistant professor.

As research director of the Harvard project, she published a number of impactful research papers and books. Donovan co-authored a widely-read study that demonstrated that a significant number of participants in the January 6 attack on the Capitol were driven by their support for Donald Trump.

In September 2021, Donovan released a book entitled, Meme Wars: The Untold Story of the Online Battles Upending Democracy in America, with co-authors Emily Dreyfuss and Brian Friedberg. The book explores the spread of right-wing political conspiracy theories through online media.

In 2022, Harvard announced that her research project there would end in 2024. Due to announcement of the closing of the project, she accepted a faculty position at Boston University. The Harvard project ended in August 2023,

Whistleblower disclosure In December 2023, Donovan alleged that she was forced to leave Harvard due to pressure from Meta Platforms resulting from her research about online extremism. In a legal filing sent to both the Massachusetts Attorney General's office as well as the federal United States Department of Education, Donovan alleged that financial pressure from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative led to her being pushed out of Harvard. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative denied involvement in her departure from the university. Harvard also disputed Donovan's accusation. Harvard asserted that they did not "fire" her but that they were unable to find a faculty member who would oversee the work project and, though the director of the work, she was not employed as "faculty." They asserted they offered her a part-time position as an adjunct lecturer, which she turned down.

According to the investigation, multiple former colleagues and staff members disputed Donovan’s characterization of events. Eleven former members of the Technology and Social Change Project told The Chronicle that they had seen no evidence that Meta exerted pressure on Harvard to terminate the project, and that Donovan’s claims of corporate interference were not supported by internal records, correspondence, or firsthand accounts reviewed by the publication.