One pandemic, many controversies. Mapping the COVID-19 “infodemic” via digital methods.

This thesis investigates public controversies related to COVID-19 policies and technologies in the Italian context, elucidating how debates unfold in contemporary hybrid media ecosystems. It consists of three case studies analyzing Twitter discourse around “lockdown” measures, the AstraZeneca vaccine, and the “Green Pass” certificate. The research employs digital methods and computational techniques to map debate dynamics. The first essay traces shifting Italian Twitter narratives from initial lockdown support to growing dissent. Analysis of 2.9 million tweets from 2020-2023 reveals right-wing actors strategically captured emerging frustrations, despite declining public attention. The second essay examines around 1 million tweets and 30 thousands online news from the coverage of AstraZeneca's 2021 vaccination campaign. Findings spotlight sensationalism and ideological polarization obstructing balanced scientific appraisal. The third essay explores 4.3 million tweets on the Green Pass, uncovering familiar partisan fractures impeding policy deliberation. Together, these controversies showcase collective attention's volatility, the power of influencers, and superficial public engagement. Beyond fleeting spikes around events, debates rarely consolidate into stable public arenas for inclusive reasoning around complex issues. Partisan identities readily subsume emergent controversies. Opportunities for cross-cutting dialogue are crowded out by efforts to integrate issues into pre-existing ideological struggles. The research demonstrates how techno-scientific controversies become proxies for cultural identity contests rather than loci for evidence-based assessment of challenges requiring collective understanding. It reveals the difficulty of nurturing democratic digital discourse amid the dynamics of contemporary media. The analysis indicates the importance of fostering media literacy, reforms, transparency, cultural empathy and recognition of scientific uncertainties. Overall, mapping situated cases elucidates complex societal forces shaping the quality of public debate.