« Biden outright lies about inflation, blaming Trump | A WEF paradise: You eat bugs, bugs eat you »
February 4, 2023

Harvard ditches 'misinformation' research program, severs ties with its director who doubted Hunter's laptop was genuine

By Thomas Lifson

The entire concept of “misinformation” is a subterfuge to disguise outright censorship, and there are signs that the public has caught on to the con.  The remaining institutions capable of feeling shame may be backing away from their earlier commitment to the cause.  The hasty federal retreat from the planned “Disinformation Governance Board” under Scary Poppins Nina Janckowicz, obviously in conflict with the First Amendment, has now been joined by Harvard University. Will Potter writes in the UK Daily Mail: 

Harvard has scrapped its 'misinformation' research program and 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'.

Donovan has been a loyal partisan, and staked her credibility (and the program’s) on casting doubt on the veracity of Hunter’s laptop that threatens to expose Joe Buden as corrupt, bribed by foreign countries.

Speaking on the Harvard Kennedy School podcast PolicyCast, she said: 'The sourcing of the laptop being dropped off in Delaware at a lonely repairman's shop that's just... 

'If you can charge $85 for fixing a broken laptop, I want to know you. It's a broken laptop, right? 

'So, the sourcing of it just stinks of tradecraft. It stinks of a drop. 

'And many cyber-security professionals are waiting for an opportunity to forensically analyze the contents of this hard drive.'

She also claimed that because other stories about Hunter Biden had circulated prior to the bombshell laptop leak, the story was less likely to be true.  

'What we see as researchers when they're trying to make a story happen time and time again, and it doesn't, then you start to see the intensification and adaptation of tactics,' she said. 

'So, we pretty much expected more and different styles of attack, including a leak, but was really suspicious of it, is you've got someone with millions of dollars. 

'He can't afford Geek Squad at Best Buy to come to his house for the laptop that he has evidence of crimes on? I mean, it's really hard to believe.'


Twitter via the UKDM.

The character M&Ms, just canned by Mars, Inc., are a nice touch.

Harvard’s cover story for why they are booting the program is embarrassing:

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.

Has it taken them 4 years to recognize that Donovan was not a “full member” of the faculty?  One can reasonably infer that the implicit admission by Hunter Biden’s legal team that the laptop from hell is his (even though they laughably tried to walk that back) might have more to do with the timing of the decision.

Donovan’s Twitter account indicates that she’s already planning an alternative career consistent with her values and interests:

And seems to be spending time focused on personal priorities: food and her cat:

Good luck with that bookstore in the age of Amazon!

If you experience technical problems, please write to helpdesk@americanthinker.com