Det virala viruset : En tematisk analys på desinformation om covid-19 vaccinen i svenska facebookgrupper

Sammanfattning: The aim of this study is to examine disinformation about the covid-19 vaccine in posts from Swedish Facebook groups. At the end of 2019, the coronavirus started to spread around the world and became a global pandemic. On social media, especially Facebook, disinformation started to spread around about the virus. The study was based on 58 posts from 4 different Facebook groups where a qualitative thematic analysis was conducted to see which themes that were common in the disinformation. This method was paired with framing theory to see how the senders were framing their message and the disinformation. The research questions of this study are which themes can be identified in the disinformation about the covid-19 vaccine in the Swedish Facebook groups? And how are the covid-19 vaccines framed in these themes? This study resulted in 4 themes with 9 subcategories. The first theme is conspiracy theories with the subcategory mRNA. The second theme is scientific resistance with the subcategories questioning the content of the vaccines, critical of the manufacturing and approval of the vaccines, effectiveness, critical of pharmaceutical companies and alternative cure. The third theme is criticism of senders, and the fourth theme is warnings with the subcategories exhortation, swine flu and side effects. In the theme conspiracy theories, the posts are framing vaccine as something dangerous, untrustworthy and that it is a fraud. The posts can also be connected to already existing theories about the virus. In the second theme, scientific resistance, are the posts framing resistance against scientific proven fact about the vaccines. The posts also frame that there are other solutions for covid-19 than the vaccine. In the third theme, criticism against senders, the common frames were that the senders of information about the vaccine and vaccination were smeared, for example the Swedish government and the public health authority. These senders were framed as traitors and that the Swedish population would become their slaves. In the last theme warnings, the posts framed warnings and tried to influence people to not take the vaccine because of several reasons like side effects. The posts also framed that these reasons could lead to death or other health issues for the rest of their lives.