Breakdown of knowledge authority: semiotic analysis of an anti-vax conspiracy theory influencer on Twitter

Anti-vax conspiracy theories are major drivers of “vaccine hesitancy”, a top-10 threat to global health according to the WHO. This paper investigates the interpretative mechanisms and discursive conditions of anti-vax discourse on Twitter (X), through the analysis of seven tweets posted by an anti-vax influencer. Mixed methods of discourse analysis are employed, focusing on the strategic character and potential social effects of discourse. As a set of relations, the code-text of anti-vax conspiracy theories is characterized by a conflict between authority and freedom. The archetype of the enemy is diffuse and composed of different elements (government, mainstream media, medical/scientific community) that are all totalized into one-and-the-same evil: “the authorities.” Overall, when facing the increasing deconstruction of epistemic authority on social media, the form (independently from content) with which anti-vax discourse seeks to provide argumentation (by framing identities and social relations in the shape of dichotomic oppositions) is fundamentally undesirable.