Analysis of data surrounding support of Joi Ito at the MIT Media Lab in the wake of his interactions with Jeffrey Epstein.
I was surprised and confused to read about Joi Ito, Jeffrey Epstein, and the MIT Media Lab. The website wesupportjoi.org went online in late August (whois shows a domain registration date of 2019-08-26T03:33:03Z). I found the petition's support of Joi to be overly simplistic and full throated, with little thought given to systemic injustice.
The change that is needed must be inclusive, evidence-based, and constructive, and the work towards this should start immediately under Joi’s direction. To this end, we the undersigned, attest not only to Joi’s talent in managing one of the most complex and multidisciplinary research organizations in the world, but also, and more importantly, to his character: thoughtful, humble, principled, and generous.
Especially in light of Ronan Farrow's New Yorker article and Ito's subsequent resignation, I wanted to understand better the signatories of the wesupportjoi petition.
TBD
(WIP) I'd like to thank the following individuals for speaking up when the issues at the Media Lab arose (please let me know if I have forgotten anyone!)
- Awra Mboya, who wrote Why Joi Ito needs to resign on The Tech, MIT's student newspaper
- Kate Darling, who wrote Jeffrey Epstein's influence in the science world is a symptom of larger problems in the Guardian