Covid-19 Vaccination in Switzerland: Information and Disinformation in Social Media

Abstract

In a project in cooperation with the Swiss Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH/BAG), from July 1 to December 31, 2021, information and disinformation on (vaccination and containment of) Covid-19 in social media contributions were investigated. The data consist of Switzerland-related social media contributions of private users on Covid-19. For the data retrieval a sophisticated monitoring tool (Ubermetrics) was deployed. The analysis method consisted in a first step of tool-based semi-automatic analysis of over 30'000 social media contributions. In a second step, to verify and enhance the results, qualitative content analysis was deployed to a representative sample of 2'000 social media contributions. In summary, on a monthly basis the findings of the pilot project point at a majority (57%) of social media posts that is not (entirely) conducive to vaccination or containment of the pandemic, and a volatile, but always substantial share of mis-/disinformation (50%) on Covid-19-related issues. The misinformation pertains to vaccination efficacy and side effects, but also to vaccination and containment of the pandemic as political repression, threats to individual and collective ‘freedom’. In addition, vaccination and containment of the pandemic are embedded in various types conspiracies. Furthermore, a strongly negative reputation of the transparency, competence, and social responsibility of (health) authorities, a controversial reputation of vaccination, as well as an underwhelming adoption of the key messages of authorities are in evidence.