ANOTHER ONE BITES THE DUST

Second MIT Researcher to Cut Ties With Media Lab Over Epstein Ties

Two researchers at the institution’s Media Lab have left in the past week.

A second researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is cutting ties with the institution’s Media Lab over its connections to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Visiting scholar J. Nathan Matias said in a post Wednesday on Medium that he would be ending his affiliation with the lab at the end of this academic year. Matias said that part of his project’s work includes “research on protecting women and other vulnerable people online from abuse and harassment.” “I cannot with integrity do that from a place with the kind of relationship that the Media Lab has had with Epstein,” he wrote. “It’s that simple.” The post came after Ethan Zuckerman, director of the lab’s Center for Civic Media, told MIT officials of his plans to resign over the lab’s ties to Epstein. The lab’s director, Joi Ito, wrote an open letter to the university community apologizing for the lab’s connections to the deceased financier, which included accepting money from Epstein and traveling to his homes.