TikTok Portrays Vaping as Fun, Safe, and Socially Accepted Recreation, While Downplaying the Risks

According to reports today, most social media platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook hold a positive attitude towards e-cigarettes. This information makes the use of e-cigarettes appear common and socially accepted.

For decades, Australia has banned traditional tobacco advertising. However, e-cigarettes are widely promoted on social media, offsetting some of the positive outcomes achieved over the past decades.

Most platforms' content policies explicitly prohibit the promotion of tobacco product use, including e-cigarettes. However, new research released this week indicates that these policies are frequently violated, with little or no consequences.

The number of young people using e-cigarettes, including those in Australia, is rapidly increasing. The evidence of e-cigarettes being harmful to health is also growing.

The positive social media messages about e-cigarettes may particularly influence young people, who are the most frequent users of social media. In some cases, this information has even been shown to be blatantly targeted at teenagers.

Research shows that young people who view posts about e-cigarettes on social media are more likely to vape and have a positive view of e-cigarettes. Both e-cigarette advertisements and user-generated content effectively market for e-cigarette companies.

TikTok Emphasizes Skills and Downplays Risks

In our recently published study, we examined how e-cigarettes are advertised and promoted on TikTok. In February 2022, we analyzed 264 English user-generated e-cigarette videos and evaluated them according to TikTok's own content policies.

We found that the majority of videos (98%) portrayed e-cigarettes positively.

More than a quarter of the videos clearly violated TikTok's content policies by promoting the purchase of e-cigarette products.

Very few videos included health warnings. Only 2% of posts mentioned e-cigarettes or nicotine addiction.

A handful of posts mentioned public health professionals or commented on e-cigarette regulation. These posts were relatively unpopular, receiving fewer views and likes.

Half of the videos mentioned the e-cigarette community. These posts were more popular than those that did not mention a shared identity. This may help form norms around e-cigarette use and increase perceptions of e-cigarettes being socially accepted.

Popular posts also included references to vape tricks (such as creating shapes from exhaled aerosol), which early research indicates teenagers often view as a reason to start using e-cigarettes. Posts also used humor, an effective tool to attract young social media users.

Videos that violate content policies often provide detailed information on how and where to purchase e-cigarette products. This includes links to online retailers and other social media accounts.

Promotional activities such as giveaways and discounts are common, directly violating content policies. Many posts also provide product reviews.

What Needs to Happen?

We cannot rely on platforms to create and enforce content policies. Violations of social media policies often do not result in significant consequences—platforms decide the consequences of violations themselves.

This is a problem because social media platforms have clear economic incentives not to punish those who violate their policies.

The federal government has recently taken a tough stance, through regulations, enforcement, education, plain packaging, and flavor bans, to curb young people's vaping, a stance that has been welcomed.

However, this does not include banning e-cigarette advertisements, promotions, and sponsorships on social media, which is clearly also needed.

There needs to be a focus on enforcing policies. This must include requiring social media platforms to report how they ensure compliance with regulations.

The current policies and review processes are insufficient to limit the spread of pro-e-cigarette content on TikTok. This exposes young social media users to vaping. There needs to be increased regulation of e-cigarette content and its promotion to prevent future vaping and harm to young people.