Paper short abstract:

This paper explores Brazilian groups about non-vaccination in social media: how they share information, their understanding of science and the logic behind their discourses. The challenges of an ethnographic approach and ethical issues in the digital spaces are also concerns in this research.

Paper long abstract:

Universal vaccination is accepted for control of infectious diseases and is one of the most globalized health safety policies. Even though it is mandatory in Brazil, there has been a decline in vaccination coverage in recent years. With the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, debates about the efficacy and safety of vaccines, in addition to the mandatory nature of vaccination, are present in the media and social networks. The theme proposed here is the object of my doctoral research, which will seek to analyze the worldview and logics present in the discourses and knowledge shared about non-vaccination in Brazilian social media (specifically a Facebook group and another one on Telegram) in order to verify how vaccine information is disseminated and which are the determinants of vaccine hesitation, the impact of social media on these ways of thinking and the role and the understanding of science for these groups. Among the main challenges of the research, there are: ethical issues regarding information shared in the group; participant observation in digital spaces; and following the flow of information and users’ participation. People sympathetic to the anti-vaccination cause are not visible in health facilities, but they find in social media the place where they can express themselves with their peers and share their worldview. Vaccination must be understood as a scientific, political and social phenomenon, therefore it is essential to comprehend these groups to be able to improve health policies.