This article explores debates on medical assistance in dying (MAID) in Canada as they unfolded on Twitter before its adoption in June 2016. The opposition, which came from diverse groups—religious, experts, politicians—led to polarizing debates about the social acceptability of this measure. Our finding shows that the so‐called lay citizens refused to leave the discussion to experts and politicians and got involved in the debates around the issue. Our results also show that Twitter was mainly used to share information, hence complementing the role of traditional media. Overall, the platform gave rise to an “ambient political participation,” allowing minority or marginalized groups as well as lay citizens to share their knowledge and opinion about MAID. This may have favored a certain form of empowerment.

中文翻译：

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＃参与＃比赛：在Twitter上研究反国家的话语，说明加拿大死刑立法中医疗救助的社会可接受性

本文探讨了2016年6月在加拿大进行的有关垂死者医疗救助（MAID）的辩论，该辩论在Twitter上进行之前。来自宗教，专家，政界人士等不同群体的反对派对有关加拿大的死者的社会接受度进行了辩论这个措施。我们的发现表明，所谓的外行公民拒绝将讨论交给专家和政客，而是参与有关该问题的辩论。我们的结果还表明，Twitter主要用于共享信息，从而补充了传统媒体的作用。总体而言，该平台引发了“环境政治参与”，使少数群体或边缘化群体以及外行公民可以分享他们对MAID的知识和看法。这可能有利于某种形式的授权。