Harvard’s former misinformation scholar Joan Donovan says she was fired for criticizing Meta over notorious Facebook Papers after Ivy League school had been awarded $500M grant by Mark Zuckerberg

The former director of Harvard's misinformation program claims she was fired by the school after criticizing Meta executives over the infamous “Facebook Papers” because bosses wanted to protect donors Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan.

Joan Donovan quit her job at Harvard in February after causing a stir by questioning the media's handling of the Hunter Biden laptop story. Donovan questioned the veracity of the laptop, which contained incriminating emails, photos and information about the president's son.

Now she claims the school was pushed to cut ties with her to protect Facebook and parent company Meta, which awarded Harvard a $500 million grant for AI research.

Former Harvard disinformation scholar Joan Donovan claims in a new whistleblower complaint that she was released by the school after trying to hold Facebook accountable over Frances Haugen's claims

She claims that after leaking the infamous Facebook papers – which whistleblower Frances Haugen details how the company ignored staff warnings and suppressed research into how its products were harming society – she was frozen by the school.

Officially, Harvard says Donovan's role was eliminated when the disinformation division was abolished, and she was offered another job, which she turned down.

In a whistleblower complaint, Donovan says the real reason was more nefarious.

She claims the school scrutinized her work after she raised concerns about Facebook during a Zoom call on October 29, 2021.

By then, Haugen had testified before Congress and publicly shared her fears about Facebook in an interview with 60 Minutes. She claimed that the company urgently needed government oversight and warned that Zuckerberg could not be left to self-police.

Donovan then obtained the documents himself and used them to inform the interrogation about the Zoom call.

Donovan claims there was a 'conflict of interest' at Harvard after Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan gave the school a $500 million grant for AI research

Elliot Schrage, the company's chief spokesperson at the time, was also on the phone and told Donovan that she had seriously misinterpreted the documents and Haugen's testimony.

Zuckerberg has always argued that the documents were taken out of context and misrepresented the company.

In her whistleblower complaint, Donovan says it took Harvard bosses 10 days to take a closer look at her department.

“A significant conflict of interest due to funding and personal relationships has created a pervasive culture at the Harvard Kennedy School of acting in the best interests of Facebook/Meta at the expense of academic freedom and Harvard's own mission,” she wrote.

Harvard has denied her claims.

In a statement to DailyMail.com, a spokesperson for the Harvard Kennedy School said: 'The document's allegations of unfair treatment and interference of donors are false.

“The story is riddled with inaccuracies and baseless innuendo, especially the suggestion that the Harvard Kennedy School allowed Facebook to dictate its approach to research.

Donovan obtained the Facebook Papers in October 2021 after whistleblower Frances Haugen (pictured) made them public

“Due to the long-standing policy of upholding academic standards, all research projects at the Harvard Kennedy School must be led by faculty members.

'Joan Donovan was hired as a staff member (not a faculty member) to lead a media manipulation project.

“When the project's original faculty leader left Harvard, the school spent some time trying to find another faculty member who had the time and interest to lead the project.

'After that attempt failed, the project was given more than a year to finish.

“Joan Donovan was not dismissed and most members of the investigation team chose to remain at the school in new roles.”

The Harvard Kennedy School, where Donovan worked, denied her claims