O aborto como centro de disputas discursivas nas plataformas online

Abstract

This study examines the discursive struggle over abortion legislation in Brazil as it unfolds, is mediated, and circulates on the social media platform Instagram. Based on an analysis of ten posts by politicians, media outlets, and other social actors, the research employs the theoretical-methodological framework of Critical Discourse Analysis, particularly in the tradition of Norman Fairclough, to explore how two opposing groups—those against and those in favor of the decriminalization and legalization of abortion—use discursive legitimation strategies to influence public opinion in the online environment. Drawing on the notion of Instagram as an extension of the public sphere, in Habermasian terms, the study surveys the characteristics and dimensions of online platforms as discussed by D’Andréa and Poell, Nieborg, and Dick, in order to investigate how abortion discourse, understood through Fairclough’s perspective as a social practice, is contested within a moderated environment such as digital platforms. Furthermore, the research conducts a brief examination of gender issues that intersect with the topic, drawing on Joan Scott and Pierre Bourdieu to analyze how the concepts of gendered social roles and symbolic power contribute to the naturalization of particular discourses about women and people who can become pregnant. The findings indicate that, within Instagram, the controversy is characterized by ongoing confrontation in which opposing discourses not only compete but also mutually shape one another in a dynamic of symbolic struggle and visibility. The study concludes that the circulation of these discourses on social media expands modes of political engagement and reinforces the centrality of language as a social practice of power, highlighting the role of digital platforms in the (re)configuration of the public debate on abortion in Brazil.