This study investigates how scientific knowledge is politicized on Twitter. Identifying discursive modes of online politicization and analyzing how they relate to different online issue publics allows us to weigh in on the scholarly debate about when the politicization of science on social media becomes problematic in a democratic context. This is a complicated question in “knowledge societies” where increasing science–politics confluence means that some degree of politicization is necessary for science–informed policymaking and (online) public debate. We look at how pandemic science was politicized through becoming discursively linked with an already highly politicized science issue on Twitter, namely, climate change. Our mixed-methods analysis demonstrates that some politicizations of science seek to contest science-informed policy while others are better characterized as ideological science rejection. We argue for the advantages of this approach of identifying science rejection over approaches that seek to distinguish information from dis-/misinformation.

中文翻译：

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科学的在线政治化：Twitter 上关于 COVID-19 和气候科学融合的争论与否认主义

这项研究调查了科学知识如何在 Twitter 上被政治化。识别在线政治化的话语模式并分析它们与不同在线问题公众的关系，使我们能够参与关于社交媒体上的科学政治化何时在民主背景下成为问题的学术辩论。在“知识社会”中，这是一个复杂的问题，其中科学与政治的日益融合意味着一定程度的政治化对于科学决策和（在线）公共辩论是必要的。我们研究流行病科学如何通过与推特上已经高度政治化的科学问题（即气候变化）建立话语联系而被政治化。我们的混合方法分析表明，一些科学政治化试图对抗科学政策，而另一些则被更好地描述为意识形态科学拒绝。我们认为这种识别科学拒绝的方法比试图区分信息和虚假/错误信息的方法具有优势。