“‘Vaccinate or Terminate’: A CDA of US and Italian Online Petitions on COVID-19 vaccines

In the contemporary crisis of representative democracy, the increased availability and interactivity of the Internet have favored new forms of civic engagement. On e-petition websites, such as Change.org, anyone can start campaigns addressing decision-makers to drive solutions to specific issues, exploiting the web to sensitize the public and gain support. In the last years, the COVID-19 pandemic has centralized public attention, with debates often estimating its impacts and criticizing the solutions adopted by governments. In particular, the anti-COVID-19 vaccination campaigns have generated strong contrapositions between those who have confidently awaited, welcomed and required a more extensive distribution of vaccines, and those who, for multiple reasons, have rejected them. The vaccines, authorized in a relatively short period and mandatory in some contexts, have indeed been a source of fear and suspicion, feelings skilfully exploited by those wishing to spread misinformation and conspiracy theories. The present study analyzes a corpus of online petitions in favor of and against COVID-19 vaccinations, published on the United States and Italy versions of Change.org. The study focuses on the persuasive strategies and motifs exploited in the user-generated discourse in the two countries to gain support for the causes. Specifically, the investigation analyzes the way e-petitioners raise public awareness about the pros and cons of COVID-19 vaccines and appeal to the citizens’ beliefs in the two countries. Persuasive discursive strategies entail appealing to emotions, establishing the author’s credentials, and providing supporting information. In both countries, pro-vaccine arguments include the prioritization of human health by protecting vulnerable groups and waiving COVID-19 vaccine patent rights. Arguments against mandatory vaccines involve a ‘populist’ distrust of political elites and medical experts. The corpus is also examined from a genre analysis viewpoint to uncover the rhetorical structures in the texts. A recurring number of optional rhetorical sequences was identified, revealing a mixture of features from different genres, from political propaganda to fundraising letters to popular science, enriched with the interactive capabilities of the web.