Truth Initiative Schroeder Institute®, Washington, DC, USA.
Nicotine Tob Res. 2024 Aug 22;26(9):1175-1182. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntae052.
This study examines limitations of the current regulatory framework for tobacco advertising on Instagram. We first investigate compliance with Food and Drug Administration (FDA) warning label requirements for posts by tobacco-owned accounts. Next, we examine the prevalence of content that has been restricted in broadcast or print for its youth appeal, followed by content meeting more expansive criteria for youth appeal set forth in the FDA's guidance document.
Posts by tobacco-brand-owned accounts between January 1, 2021, and February 14, 2022, were sampled from Mintel's Comperemedia Omni database. Instagram posts from 15 accounts were examined for violations of FDA warning label requirements and content that has been restricted on other mediums, including cartoons, sports branding, unauthorized claims, and young models (N = 1243). Finally, a subsample of n = 453 unambiguously branded posts was coded for themes that met the FDA's criteria of resonating with younger audiences, particularly that "adolescents rely on external information as they seek to shape their own identities."
Only 12.8% of posts had fully compliant warning labels. Content that has been in some way regulated on other mediums, such as cartoons (1.6%), unauthorized health claims (<1%), sports branding (<1%), and young models (4.4%) were infrequent. However, a conservative analysis focusing only on branded posts found that posts frequently highlighted tech elements (45%), device customizability (24.5%), vaper identity (17.7%), stylized product photography (33.6%), social media engagement (32.2%), and memes (5.7%).
Enforcement of existing regulations on Instagram is minimal. Explicit content restrictions applying evidence-based guidance on youth-appealing advertising are needed.
This research has important implications for enforcing and expanding advertising regulations on social media. First, Instagram's self-imposed regulations are ineffective, permitting tobacco companies to post ads from brand-owned accounts despite claiming to restrict tobacco promotion on the platform. Second, policymakers should seek to apply FDA guidance on youth-appealing advertising informed by decades of research to create explicit enforceable content restrictions that extend beyond cartoons, sports figures, and young models to include content likely to situate tobacco use within the developing self-concept of vulnerable youth such as presenting e-cigarettes as hi-tech devices, highlighting vaper identity, or infiltrating online social media culture. Finally, greater resources for enforcement are needed given the only applicable regulation, warning labels, remains largely ignored.
本研究考察了当前 Instagram 上烟草广告监管框架的局限性。我们首先调查了烟草公司账户发布的内容是否符合食品和药物管理局（FDA）的警告标签要求。接下来，我们研究了因针对年轻人的吸引力而在广播或印刷中受到限制的内容的流行程度，以及符合 FDA 指导文件中更广泛的年轻人吸引力标准的内容。
从 Mintel 的 Comperemedia Omni 数据库中抽取了 2021 年 1 月 1 日至 2022 年 2 月 14 日期间烟草品牌拥有的账户的帖子。检查了 15 个账户的 Instagram 帖子，以确定是否违反了 FDA 警告标签要求，以及是否存在其他媒介上受到限制的内容，包括卡通、体育品牌、未经授权的声明和年轻模特（N=1243）。最后，对 n=453 个明确标记的帖子进行了亚样本分析，以确定符合 FDA 标准的主题，即与年轻观众产生共鸣，特别是“青少年依靠外部信息来塑造自己的身份”。
只有 12.8%的帖子有完全合规的警告标签。在其他媒介上以某种方式受到监管的内容，如卡通（1.6%）、未经授权的健康声明（<1%）、体育品牌（<1%）和年轻模特（4.4%）并不常见。然而，仅关注标记帖子的保守分析发现，帖子经常突出技术元素（45%）、设备可定制性（24.5%）、蒸汽烟身份（17.7%）、风格化产品摄影（33.6%）、社交媒体参与度（32.2%）和模因（5.7%）。
在 Instagram 上执行现有法规的力度很小。需要实施明确的基于证据的针对青少年吸引力的广告限制规定。
这项研究对社交媒体上的广告法规的执行和扩展具有重要意义。首先，Instagram 自行制定的规定是无效的，尽管声称限制平台上的烟草促销，但仍允许烟草公司从品牌拥有的账户发布广告。其次，政策制定者应该寻求应用 FDA 基于数十年研究的针对青少年吸引力的广告指导，以制定明确的可执行的内容限制，这些限制不仅限于卡通、体育人物和年轻模特，还包括可能将电子烟置于易受伤害的年轻人发展中的自我概念中的内容，例如将电子烟展示为高科技设备，突出蒸汽烟身份，或渗透到在线社交媒体文化中。最后，鉴于唯一适用的法规，即警告标签，基本上被忽视，因此需要更多的执法资源。
