There’s no doubt that Facebook has many problems on its plate, but one of the biggest is the spread of disinformation. However, according to nationally recognized disinformation researcher Dr. Joan Donovan, the company may not want that issue being examined too closely. This week, Donovan went public with explosive claims that Harvard University shut down her project after receiving a $500 million donation from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a philanthropic organization run by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife.

For its part, Harvard has strongly disputed Donovan’s claims, claiming that her project was given more than a year to wind down after the faculty member supervising the effort left the school. However, some advocates aren’t buying the excuse, claiming that the school acted to protect Facebook no matter what it says.

“We’ve seen in the past how Big Tobacco, Big Energy and Big Pharma have succeeded in influencing, undermining, and co-opting research to protect their lies, their profits and evade accountability. Now Meta, with the complicity of a powerful ally, is following the same playbook,” said Libby Liu, the CEO of nonprofit legal group Whistleblower Aid. “Whether Harvard acted at the company’s direction or took the initiative on their own to protect Meta’s interests, the outcome is the same: corporate interests are undermining research and academic freedom to the detriment of the public.”

Time will tell if these accusations result in any legal action, but regardless, this is yet another bad look for Facebook at a time when its reputation is already poor.

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