Government as Enemy: A Discourse Analysis Approach in Social Media and Newspaper Articles Regarding E-Cigarette Control

Abstract

This article received support from Tobacco Control Research and Knowledge Management Center in 2018. E-cigarette, despite its illegality and subjected to total ban in Thailand, is popular among Thai smokers. Since e-cig is illegal, several attempts were done to influence the control policies, one of the attempt is through online communications. Sets of discourse on e-cigarette safety have been constructed and communicated through e-cigarette vendors and supporters to promote consumption and divert social belief on e-cig. One of the key discourse on e-cig safety is targeting the government and the control policies as enemy, analyses include 4 sets of communications 1) government sectors are enemies against the promotion and use of e-cig 2) discrediting government sectors which prohibit e-cigarette as slow and unopened to updated information 3) use testimonial, referring credited people, celebrities, countries and organizations to support e-cigarette safety and using them as the opposite voices 4) referring to the government as anarchy and dictatorship,halting all development including e-cig promotion. The end result showed a widespread of online myth on e-cigarette safety.