Risks of E-Cigarette Promotion on TikTok: Australian Medical Association
According to a Daily Mail report on November 1st, the Australian Medical Association has stated that an increasing number of young people are being targeted by e-cigarette sellers on social media platforms. The association's data reveals that the number of videos promoting e-cigarettes on platforms like TikTok is on the rise, with 63% of these videos showcasing the products in a positive manner and accumulating over 1.1 billion views in total.
Despite TikTok's community guidelines prohibiting users from posting, streaming, or sharing any content that involves "facilitating the purchase, sale, trade, or use of drugs or other controlled substances, alcohol, or tobacco products," many videos showcasing e-cigarette usage are actively appearing on the platform, thereby violating TikTok's social media policies.
A study has found that a majority of the videos on TikTok present e-cigarettes in a positive light, with a quarter of the videos seriously violating the platform's social media policies.
According to the information submitted by the Tobacco Vape Research Collective, the current policies and management procedures appear to be ineffective in effectively restricting the dissemination of content praising e-cigarettes on TikTok, potentially exposing the major young user base to the risks of using e-cigarettes.
This evidence emerges several months after the Australian federal government announced its biggest smoking law reform in decades, which includes the ban on over-the-counter e-cigarette products to be implemented in May.
According to sources, the government is planning to enforce a ban on the importation of all disposable e-cigarettes through the parliament before the end of 2023.
Disclaimer:
This article is translated from an original Chinese article available on 2firsts.cn by AI, and has been reviewed and edited by 2FIRSTS's English editorial team. The Chinese original text is the only authoritative source of information. The exclusive copyright and license rights to this article are held by 2FIRSTS Technology Co., Ltd. Any reproduction, reprinting, or redistribution of this article, either in part or in full, requires express written permission from 2FIRSTS and must include clear attribution along with a link to this content. Non-compliance may result in legal action. 2FIRSTS Technology Co., Ltd. reserves the right to pursue legal actions in case of unauthorized use or distribution.
