[1] The award was active from May 2017 to September 2019,[2] when it was cancelled after connections between the Media Lab and Jeffrey Epstein became public.
[3] The physical award was a glass orb, fabricated by MIT Media Lab professor Neri Oxman.
[5] The Disobedience Award was created by former director of the MIT Media Lab Joi Ito and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman in July 2016.
[6] In July 2017, the Media Lab presented the Disobedience Award to recipients Marc Edwards and Mona Hanna-Attisha to honor their efforts in exposing high levels of lead in the water supply of Flint, Michigan during the Flint Water Crisis.
[12][13] In September 2019, one of the awards' jurors Anand Giridharadas resigned after news came out involving Ito's associations with Jeffrey Epstein.