Tobacco Industry Lobbyists Fund Pro-Vaping Facebook Campaigns

In the UK, lobby groups are spreading messages on the social network Facebook in favour of e-cigarettes, claiming that they are campaigns initiated by independent organisations. These groups are urging vaping users to “stand up for their rights” by opposing the new vaping regulations being considered in the country.[1].

The campaigns – which have been broadcast to millions of Facebook and Twitter users in recent weeks – have names such as #BackVapingSaveLives and Save My Vape, and are designed to appear to be coordinated by independent associations or government bodies. In reality, they are run and promoted by think tanks and lobbyists close to the tobacco industry who oppose stricter regulation and want to influence UK government policy.

Front groups relaying tobacco industry messages

Social media campaigns include a grassroots movement called We Vape UK, which claims to be run by an independent organisation “for vapers and by vapers”, but was founded by a fellow of the Adam Smith Institute. The Adam Smith Institute, which was recently ranked as one of the UK’s least transparent think tanks, has previously confirmed receiving donations from tobacco companies, saying in 2013 that this accounted for around £3 billion of its income.

The messaging in We Vape UK’s #BackVapingSaveLives campaign glorifies vaping. It includes a video of a young woman vaping at a party, messages promoting flavoured and disposable vapes, and photos of celebrities using e-cigarettes.

Other posts encourage consumers to fill out a form that allows them to send a letter to their local MP. The pre-drafted letter is signed by the person’s name and asks the MP to “stand up for the thousands of people who vape in their constituency” by opposing policies that seek to regulate vaping.

The fake grassroots movements — known as astroturfing — have been described by transparency advocates and health experts as a backdoor way to influence opinion and a deliberate effort to sabotage public health policies.

Facebook campaigns that oppose the World Health Organization (WHO)

Two other campaigns – Say No To WHO and Save My Vape – are linked to Global Britain Ltd, an anti-EU lobby group led by Brian Monteith, a PR consultant and former Brexit Party politician described by the University of Bath’s TobaccoTactics research unit as a “veteran of anti-tobacco campaigners”. In the last three months alone, Say No To WHO has paid for 12 Facebook ads that have been shown to around 2.4 million people in the UK.

The adverts attack the WHO, which has spoken out on the health risks of e-cigarettes, and accuse it of trying to interfere in British politics, portraying it as a "shady" organisation controlled by nefarious global forces.

The WHO has called these messages misinformation. Dr Vinayak Prasad, head of its tobacco-free unit, said the WHO’s recommendations on tobacco and vaping products were based on the best available science, and showed that these products were harmful to health. He said the tobacco industry was marketing these products in the same way it marketed traditional tobacco products decades ago, misleading the public about the associated risks and directly targeting children and adolescents.

These campaigns began in 2021, but have increased their messaging and announcements in recent weeks, with the aim of pressuring the UK government to tackle underage vaping as a priority, and in the context of the WHO FCTC COP10 in Panama in November 2023.

Similar movements in France on Facebook

A digital campaign of the same nature has been orchestrated for several weeks in France entitled “Merci la vape” which calls on consumers of vaping products to “defend” their vape in the face of stricter regulations hanging over electronic cigarettes in France.

This campaign, which is an online petition, is funded by four vaping associations: So Vape, la Vape du cœur, la Fivape and Aiduce. The Aiduce association, which presents itself on its website as an independent consumer association, is in fact a member of INCCO[2], an international network of vaping organizations driven by the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World, itself directly created and funded by Philip Morris International.

These associations affirm the positive role of vaping in smoking cessation despite the recent opinion[3] of the High Council of Public Health (HCSP) which recommends that health professionals supporting smokers in their efforts to quit smoking do not offer vaping products as a cessation tool. According to the HCSP, the potential benefits and risks of using electronic cigarettes "are not established to date"

This campaign opposes recent measures proposed by certain associations such as the National Committee against Smoking, which recommends banning flavors for vaping products and increasing taxes on these products. As the WHO COP10 approaches in November, these organizations are also attacking the WHO and its discourse on the dangers of new nicotine products. In a recent article on its website, La Vape du cœur[4] thus denounces the "opaque" nature of the Conferences of the Parties (COP) of the WHO FCTC and its policy aimed at further regulating vaping products.

Keywords: Lobby, interference, tobacco industry, vaping, COP10, WHO, CCLAT, electronic cigarettes, social networks, disinformation

AE

[1] Shanti Das and Jon Ungoed-Thomas, Lobbyists with links to Big Tobacco fund pro-vaping Facebook campaigns, The Guardian, published June 18, 2023, accessed June 20, 2023

[2] Tobacco Tactics, International Network of Nicotine Consumer Organizations (INNCO), last updated November 11, 2022, accessed June 20, 2023

[3] Opinion of the High Council for Public Health, relating to the benefits and risks of electronic cigarettes, published on January 4, 2022

[4] WHO Strikes Back: Threats to Vaping, La Vape du coeur, published on April 17, 2023, consulted on June 20, 2023