MIT sues Trump admin after National Science Foundation agency ‘Misinformation’ research grant
The canceled research project is part of National Science Foundation's (NSF) goal to correct for 'awards that are not aligned with NSF’s priorities.'
Two professors who study various aspects of 'disinformation' led the project.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has joined 12 institutions in suing the Trump administration’s National Science Foundation (NSF) over the agency’s 15 percent cap on indirect costs from grant-receiving universities.
The NSF announced it will impose a limit of 15 percent to indirect costs universities receive from grants on May 2.
The new policy applies to grants awarded on and after May 5. Indirect costs include “building and equipment depreciation, operations and maintenance, and general administration, including human resources, finance, and compliance offices,” according to NSF’s policy notice.
The Association of American Universities, the American Council on Education and the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities opened the complaint, with research institutions such as the University of Pennsylvania, Brown University, California Institute of Technology, and Princeton University.
The lawsuit follows the NSF’s cancellation of an MIT-affiliated research project aimed at combatting “misinformation.”
The research project, called “Promoting Accurate Information on Social Media,” received $590,849 to determine why people accept misinformation and how to prevent its dissemination, according to data from USAspending.gov.
Its central aim included researching what causes people to either accept or reject misleading information and what can be done to halt its dissemination.
The NSF terminated the grant on April 18 before dispensing the obligated amount of $881,188.
The canceled stipend was part of NSF’s widespread grant terminations on April 25 to correct for “awards that are not aligned with NSF’s priorities,” including “those on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and misinformation/disinformation,” according to an April 18 announcement.
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NSF also canceled grants to about 700 scientific research projects on April 25.
MIT Professors David. G. Rand and Adam Berinsky spearhead the research project.
According to his biography, Rand “focuses on illuminating why people believe and share misinformation and ‘fake news.’”
Berinsky is the author of Political Rumors: Why We Accept Misinformation and How to Fight It. Berinsky became a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellow to study the spread of political rumors and how to debunk them.
Campus Reform contacted MIT, the National Science Foundation, and Professors David G. Rand and Adam Berinsky for comment. This article will be updated accordingly.
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