Joan Donovan
Born1979 or 1980 (age 43–44)[1]
NationalityAmerican
EducationUniversity of California, San Diego
University of California, Los Angeles
Occupation(s)Sociologist
Assistant Professor, College of Communication, Boston University
Employer(s)Harvard University
Boston University
Known forDisinformation expert

Joan Donovan (born 1979/1980) is an American social science researcher, sociologist, and academic noted for her research on disinformation. She is the founder of the nonprofit, Critical Internet Studies Institute (CISI). Since 2023, she is an assistant professor at the College of Communication at Boston University.[2]

Prior to that, Donovan was a researcher and lecturer at the Harvard Kennedy School at Harvard University. She was also an affiliate at Data and Society, and was research director of the Technology and Social Change Research Project at the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy.[3][1]

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 expertise was social movements, technology, and the use of DNA ancestry tests by white supremacists.[4][5]

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.[6]

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.[7]

In September 2023, she was hired as a tenure-tracking faculty member by the Boston University College of Communication and given the title of assistant professor.[2]

Areas of research

Donovan's expertise is in examining internet and technology studies, online extremism, media manipulation, and disinformation campaigns. In January 2020, she testified at the "Americans at Risk: Manipulation and Deception in the Digital Age" hearing held by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce's Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce.[8]

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.[9] Due to announcement of the closing of the project, she accepted a faculty position at Boston University. The Harvard project ended in August 2023,[2] and Donovan began her work at Boston University in September.

On January 5, 2024, The Conversation published Jan. 6 was an example of networked incitement − a media and disinformation expert explains the danger of political violence orchestrated over social media by Donovan following research into the weaponization of social media that influenced the January 6 insurrection at the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. in 2020 and compared its dynamics to events in previous decades.[10]

Whistleblower disclosure

In December 2023, Donovan alleged that she was forced to leave Harvard due to pressure from Meta Platforms owing to her research on online extremism.[11][12] 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.[13][14] Harvard disputed her accusation, asserting that they did not "fire" her; that they were unable to find a faculty member who would oversee her work (although being director of the research project, she was not employed as "faculty"); and that they offered her an alternate position, which she turned down.[12]

Bibliography

Donovan has authored more than 35 articles, papers, and books [15] including:

  • How news organizations should cover white supremacist shootings, PBS NewsHour[16]
  • Big Tech Companies Are Struggling With How To Best Police Their Platforms, NPR [17]
  • Unlike Us Reader: Social Media Monopolies and Their Alternatives, Institute of Network Cultures [18]
  • Navigating the Tech Stack: When, Where, and How Should we Moderate Content?, Centre for International Governance Innovation [19]
  • Toward a Militant Ethnography of Infrastructure: Cybercartographies of Order, Scale, and Scope across the Occupy Movement, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography [20]
  • Meme Wars: The Untold Story of the Online Battles Upending Democracy in America, Bloomsbury Publishing [21]
  • Jan. 6 was an example of networked incitement − a media and disinformation expert explains the danger of political violence orchestrated over social media, The Conversation [10]

References

  1. 1 2 Heim, Joe (January 19, 2021). "'Disinformation can be a very lucrative business, especially if you're good at it,' media scholar says". Washington Post. Archived from the original on January 29, 2021. Retrieved February 11, 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 Herszenhorn, Miles J. (August 18, 2023). "'I Had to Leave': Misinformation Expert Joan Donovan Exits Harvard, Joins Boston University Faculty". Tye Harvard Crimson.
  3. ↑ "Technology and Social Change". Shorenstein Center. Archived from the original on April 9, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  4. ↑ Panofsky, Aaron; Donovan, Joan (October 1, 2019). "Genetic ancestry testing among white nationalists: From identity repair to citizen science". Social Studies of Science. 49 (5): 653–681. doi:10.1177/0306312719861434. ISSN 0306-3127. PMC 6939152. PMID 31264517.
  5. ↑ Murphy, Heather (July 12, 2019). "How White Nationalists See What They Want to See in DNA Tests". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 11, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Joan Donovan – International Symposium on Online Journalism". Archived from the original on August 12, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  7. ↑ "Media Manipulation and Disinformation Campaigns". www.hks.harvard.edu. Archived from the original on April 9, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  8. ↑ "Hearing on "Americans at Risk: Manipulation and Deception in the Digital Age"". Democrats, Energy and Commerce Committee. January 8, 2020. Archived from the original on March 21, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  9. ↑ "Harvard Misinformation Expert Joan Donovan Forced to Leave by Kennedy School Dean, Sources Say | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved February 5, 2023.
  10. 1 2 Donovan, Joan, Jan. 6 was an example of networked incitement − a media and disinformation expert explains the danger of political violence orchestrated over social media, The Conversation, January 5, 2024
  11. ↑ Bajak, Frank, "Whistleblower allegation: Harvard muzzled disinfo team after $500 million Zuckerberg donation, Associated Press (AP), December 4, 2023
  12. 1 2 Menn, Joseph (December 4, 2023). "Ousted propaganda scholar Joan Donovan accuses Harvard of bowing to Meta". Washington Post. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
  13. ↑ Michael, Chris (December 4, 2023). "Misinformation expert says she was fired by Harvard under Meta pressure". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
  14. ↑ O'Sullivan, Donie; Duffy, Clare (December 4, 2023). "Former Harvard disinformation scholar says she was pushed out of her job after college faced pressure from Facebook | CNN Business". CNN. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
  15. ↑ "Joan Donovan CV" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on June 3, 2020.
  16. ↑ "How news organizations should cover white supremacist shootings, according to a media expert". PBS NewsHour. August 4, 2019. Archived from the original on March 21, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  17. ↑ "Big Tech Companies Are Struggling With How To Best Police Their Platforms". NPR.org. Archived from the original on July 17, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  18. ↑ "Unlike Us Reader" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on December 27, 2019.
  19. ↑ "Navigating the Tech Stack: When, Where and How Should We Moderate Content?". Centre for International Governance Innovation. Archived from the original on April 19, 2020. Retrieved April 6, 2020.
  20. ↑ Donovan, Joan (August 29, 2018). "Toward a Militant Ethnography of Infrastructure: Cybercartographies of Order, Scale, and Scope across the Occupy Movement". Journal of Contemporary Ethnography. 48 (4): 482–509. doi:10.1177/0891241618792311. ISSN 0891-2416. S2CID 149972355.
  21. ↑ https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/meme-wars-9781635578638/
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