Google pinned for encouraging tobacco and e-cigarette use

179 organizations from 62 countries called[1] Google has adopted a new policy removing and banning apps that encourage the purchase or use of tobacco and vaping products.

The organizations denounce several of the apps currently available in the Google Play Store, including those that provide users with instructions for creating vaping liquids, as well as apps produced by Altria-Philip Morris that promote coupons for Marlboro cigarettes. The Altria-Philip Morris app allows adult smokers aged 21 or older, who are enrolled in the Marlboro Rewards program, to scan and enter coupon codes found on their cigarette packs to collect points. These points can be redeemed for discount coupons on the app and used at stores listed on the app.

Apple, Amazon, and many other companies have already adopted similar policies prohibiting the promotion of tobacco or vaping products. Following a statement from Apple in November 2019[2] stating that the company would ban and remove apps promoting the use of tobacco and vaping products, nearly 200 related apps were removed from the Apple Store.

In a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai, the associations noted that in recent years, tobacco companies have increasingly used virtual platforms to target young people. In recent months, tobacco and vaping companies have exploited the COVID-19 crisis to market their products and promote special offers and online delivery apps. Philip Morris International and British American Tobacco have flooded Instagram and Facebook with ads for cigarettes like Marlboro and Lucky Strike and heated tobacco products like IQOS and Glo.

According to Matthew L. Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, these apps encourage the purchase of tobacco and vaping products. They represent a loophole in current regulations to combat smoking and vaping in the United States.

Keywords: Google, Apps, Youth, Smoking