A new report from a French anti-tobacco organisation has criticised influencers’ support of nicotine-containing products online.
More than 200 social media influencers have promoted nicotine products from tobacco companies to millions of people in the last five years, according to a new report from a French anti-tobacco group.
The French Alliance against Tobacco (ACT) organisation urges authorities in the report to increase penalties for non-compliance with an advertising ban on these products, adding that the social media posts are still online.
Promoting tobacco products has been illegal in France since 1991, with a further extension of the law in 2016. A law in France from 2023 also specifies that online influencers cannot directly or indirectly promote nicotine products.
The new ACT report found, however, that online competitions and influencer partnerships or events have been used to promote nicotine products on Instagram.
The content had been promoted by 229 French-speaking influencers, reaching 24 million people since 2019, the ACT said in a statement on Tuesday.
Most of these influencers had between 1,000 to 20,000 followers, allowing the companies to “promote their products in a subtle and indirect way,” the report said.
For example, a brand owned by the international tobacco company Imperial Brands invited 52 influencers to festive events to promote a product containing nicotine.
1 in 4 adults smoke in France
“It is unacceptable that the tobacco industry continues to circumvent the law to promote its products on social media, with complete impunity,” Marion Catellin, the director of ACT, said in a statement.
“Their goal is not to create a ‘smoke-free world,’ but to attract young people and make them addicted to nicotine,” she added.
Around a quarter of adults in France smoke daily, according to the country’s public health agency, with that percentage stabilising after decreasing between 2016 and 2019.
However, the government has moved to further restrict nicotine products with cigarette price hikes, a ban on single-use vaping products, and a planned ban on nicotine pouches.
Euronews Health reached out to the French health ministry for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
