Redeeming by Unlearning: A Critical Discourse Analysis of COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy on Facebook

As false and debunked claims about the COVID-19 virus and vaccines were pervasively disseminated across online social networks, their detrimental effects necessitated that social media companies track down and remove the disinformation. To explore the lingering vaccine hesitancy and resistance within a vaccine discussion group on Facebook, this study applies a nascent framework called Information Acts in three communication styles. Employing critical discourse analysis methodology, this study showed that the dominant communication styles of vaccine hesitant participants (VHPs) are locutionary and perlocutionary acts. Those VHPs can reduce and eventually end their vaccine hesitancy and resistance in the process of informative and rational communication and interactive and ad-hoc support for informed decision-making. The results pose challenges and opportunities for public health communication and information provision to cultivate information resilience and interventions targeting VHPs.