Fight against disinformation: Philip Morris disowned by the scientific community

Foreign Policy magazine was scheduled to host an online conference on science diplomacy on April 20. The event, partly dedicated to the issue of disinformation, aimed to highlight the role of science in resolving global conflicts. Philip Morris' presence, sparking an outcry within the scientific community, led to the conference being canceled at the last minute.

While the initiative aimed to "energize international cooperation on scientific and technological innovation to combat disinformation," the event was organized in partnership with Philip Morris International and the coalition Industry Transformation Coalition, of which the tobacco manufacturer is a member. International tobacco control experts have called on public health actors to be vigilant "to prevent harmful industries from influencing the scientific debate" and to "refuse to engage in events that could advance the interests of the tobacco industry."[1].

Furthermore, on April 13, an OECD representative, informed of the manufacturer's presence, had cancelled his participation. A large number of speakers also quickly decided to withdraw from the event, including Martin Rauchbauer of Open Austria, Victoria Samson of the American think tank Secure the World Foundation, as well as Professor Ruffini of the University of Le Havre, who himself was replacing the OECD representative. The cancellation of this event, following the excessive disaffection of experts, is a serious setback for Philip Morris International, which is struggling to gain credibility with the scientific community.

The Tobacco Industry's Historical Role in Disinformation

The stated goal of this event to combat disinformation was in direct contradiction with the presence of Philip Morris. Indeed, since the early 1920s, the carcinogenic potential of tobacco has been known to cigarette manufacturers. In the early 1950s, Time and the New York Times simultaneously published the results of a scientific study demonstrating the existence of a direct correlation between smoking and lung cancer.[2]. From then on, the major tobacco manufacturers would organize a global disinformation campaign in order to create doubt among the general public about the dangers of tobacco products. Thus, the cigarette companies would mobilize influential and corrupt scientists, with the aim of publishing truncated studies minimizing the dangers incurred by tobacco consumption. In 1969, a tobacco industry executive would summarize this strategy, as shown in this internal document: " Our product is doubt. "This disinformation campaign, which has delayed global health awareness and the implementation of regulations by several decades, has resulted in an unprecedented human toll. On the 20^th century, an estimated 100 million people died from smoking[3].

Changing scientific standards to preserve one's interests

In the 1990s, the tobacco industry also developed the concept of "sound science" to challenge the conclusions of studies demonstrating the risks of passive smoking. Tobacco companies have also sought to modify the scientific standards themselves, in order to make it impossible to demonstrate the harmfulness of second-hand smoke. In the United States, in 2006, a Historic tobacco industry judgment points out the tobacco industry's historic role in misinformation: "For more than fifty years, [the tobacco industry has] lied, misrepresented, and deceived the American public, including smokers and young people [it] eagerly sought out as 'replacement smokers,' about the devastating health effects of smoking."

New products and same methods

More recently, the tobacco industry has been involved in a global public relations campaign to use the notion of harm reduction to promote heated tobacco. However, no independent study has yet been able to demonstrate that the consumption of heated tobacco is accompanied by a reduction in harm, compared to manufactured cigarettes.[4]. As several tobacco control experts point out, the tobacco industry is still involved in the manipulation of scientific evidence. For example, a article published in the newspaper Le Monde in April 2021 shows that cigarette manufacturers continue to use the same methods: David Khayat, a former French figure in the fight against cancer, is now a consultant for Philip Morris. His media capital and former prestige are now used to promote heated tobacco to public decision-makers.

[1] Fabbri, Zatonski, Gilmore, Who should we trust on science diplomacy and COVID-19 recovery? Not Big Tobacco, Tobacco Control Blog, 04/17/2021, (accessed 04/19/2021)

[2] World Health Organization, Smoking kills: the revolutionary life of Richard Doll, 07/07/2010, (accessed 04/19/2021)

[3] Stop Smoking, Deaths due to tobacco, 04/30/2020, (accessed 04/19/2020)

[4] Dautzenberg B, Dautzenberg MD. Heated tobacco: systematic review of the literature [Systematic analysis of the scientific literature on heated tobacco]. Rev Mal Respir. 2019 Jan;36(1):82-103. French. doi: 10.1016/j.rmr.2018.10.010. Epub 2018 Nov 11. PMID: 30429092.