#Participating #Contesting: Studying Counterpublics’ Discourses on Twitter About the Social Acceptability of Medical Assistance in Dying Legislation in Canada

Abstract

This article explores debates on medical assistance in dying (MAID) in Canada as they unfolded on Twitter before its adoption in June 2016. The opposition, which came from diverse groups-religious, experts, politicians-led to polarizing debates about the social acceptability of this measure. Our finding shows that the so-called lay citizens refused to leave the discussion to experts and politicians and got involved in the debates around the issue. Our results also show that Twitter was mainly used to share information, hence complementing the role of traditional media. Overall, the platform gave rise to an "ambient political participation," allowing minority or marginalized groups as well as lay citizens to share their knowledge and opinion about MAID. This may have favored a certain form of empowerment. The authors would like to thank Carol-Ann Rouillard and Sofia Tourigny-Koné for assisting on this project as well as Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and the Groupe de recherche en communication politique (GRCP) for providing financial support for this project.

Polarization Over Vaccination: Ideological Differences in Twitter Expression About COVID-19 Vaccine Favorability and Specific Hesitancy Concerns

“…Twitter reported that a COVID-19-related tweet came every 45 ms and the hashtag #coronavirus rapidly became the second most used in 2020 (Puri et al, 2020). On one hand, for constantly evolving global health crises like COVID-19, social media affords networked publics an opportunity to insert their narratives and counter the mainstream information distributed by the government and medical establishment (Lalancette et al, 2020). On the other hand, in the face of high uncertainty and disruptions of daily lives, social media provides a common space for the sharing of personal stories, grievances, and anxieties (Papacharissi, 2015).…”

Medical Aid in Dying: New Frontiers in Medicine, Law, and Culture

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