Role of Disinformation Frames in Shaping Public Perception of Science and Health Information among Nigerians: The Aproko Doctor GMO Controversy

This paper examines how disinformation frames influence public perception of science and health information in Nigeria, using the July 2025 GMO controversy involving medical influencer Aproko Doctor and the Gates Foundation as a case study. Through qualitative frame analysis of social media discourse across Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram during July 15-31, 2025, three dominant disinformation frames are identified that successfully challenged evidence-based science communication: the “Western Poisoning” frame, the “Corporate Greed” frame, and the “Cultural Betrayal” frame. Analysis reveals that disinformation prevailed not through superior factual content, but through strategic deployment of culturally resonant narratives, emotional appeals, and simplified messaging that aligned with existing suspicions about Western institutions rooted in colonial histories of medical exploitation. Counter-framing strategies relying on scientific evidence and institutional authority proved ineffective against these emotionally charged, culturally embedded narratives. Drawing on postcolonial science and technology studies, emotional framing theory, and comparative analysis of vaccine hesitancy in sub-Saharan Africa, findings demonstrate the urgent need for pre-emptive, culturally grounded science communication strategies that acknowledge historical power asymmetries in Nigeria’s complex information ecosystem.