Illegal ads target teens on Facebook

An internet freedom organization has revealed how Facebook's advertising ban laws are being circumvented, particularly to target young people.

Australian laws are among the strictest in the world regarding tobacco products, whether they relate to their sale, advertising, or consumption. They apply even more vigorously when it comes to minors under the age of 18. Yet social media offers advertisers ample opportunities to circumvent these laws.

Profiling of minors through their personal data

The Australian branch of the Reset group, which specializes in defending public freedoms on the Internet, recently tested Facebook's commercial filter system. The famous social network denies allowing any advertising for tobacco, alcohol or gambling that targets minors, and claims to have developed digital tools to detect ads with inappropriate content. However, by creating a fictitious page aimed at young people, Reset was able to access a profiling system that allows it to send targeted advertisements to 740,000 young Australians aged 13 to 17 [1].

"It appears that Facebook is using teens' data in the same way it uses adults' data," notes a Reset Australia manager. His team was able to run profiling simulations by varying demographic, personal, and affinity criteria and exploring eight types of content inappropriate for minors: tobacco, alcohol, gambling, pornographic content, online dating sites, extreme weight loss, fast food, and content reinforcing gender stereotypes. It would cost only 3.03 Australian dollars (AUD) to target 1,000 teenagers who said they were interested in alcohol, compared to 11.24 Australian dollars to target the same number of teenagers interested in gambling and 38.46 Australian dollars for those interested in extreme weight loss. The prices for targeting 1000 adolescents interested in tobacco (138.50 $) or electronic cigarettes (210.97 $) are the highest, far ahead of those offered for profiles interested in pornographic or gendered content [2].

Content inappropriate for minors

Reset was then able to submit thirteen inappropriate visuals for minors, covering all of the themes explored, to the automated system that regulates the compliance of ads published on Facebook. Ten of these were accepted, including those offering to meet a wealthy senior or to create a cocktail using the parents' bar. Two visuals showing cigarette smoke were rejected, but one showing a glamorous photo of an e-cigarette was accepted.

Targeting resulting from the tracking of personal data on social networks is a concern for both parents and teenagers. Interviewed by Reset, the latter declared themselves shocked that their data could be commercialized in this way, especially without their consent. This type of commercial technique is not, however, exclusive to Facebook, but is also found at its subsidiary Instagram and YouTube (Google). Reset therefore proposes to deploy an anti-tracking system for minors in Australia, similar to those currently implemented in the United Kingdom [3] and Ireland.

Social media, the tobacco industry's playground

The implementation of the WHO's international treaty, the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), now ratified by more than 180 countries, prohibits all forms of tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship. The tobacco industry is therefore working to explore all forms of circumvention of the legislation it has been unable to prevent from being adopted and enforced in order to continue promoting its products.

The Internet and social media are multiplying advertising opportunities and these possibilities for circumventing legislation, especially on personalized and instant media. With a turnover of 500 billion dollars per year and very comfortable profits, the tobacco industry has advertising firepower that is difficult to match. It has invested heavily in social media in recent years to promote smoked and smokeless tobacco. It knows that adolescents and young adults tend to be more attentive than adults to online advertising messages. A recent study on e-cigarette advertising attests to this[4]. On the lookout for all loopholes, legal or not, the tobacco industry often paves the way for other industries causing non-communicable diseases.

Keywords: Facebook, social networks, advertising, marketing, tobacco, young people ©Generation Without Tobacco

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[1] Duffy C, Facebook approves alcohol, vaping, gambling and dating ads targeting teens, lobby group finds, ABC News (Australia). Published April 28, 2021, accessed April 29, 2021. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-28/facebook-instagram-teenager-tageted-advertising-alcohol-vaping/100097590 [2] Reset Australia, Pro ling Children for Advertising: Facebook's Monetization of Young People's Personal Data, April 2021. https://au.reset.tech/uploads/resettechaustralia_profiling-children-for-advertising-1.pdf [3] Information Commissioner's Office, ICO publishes Code of Practice to protect children's privacy onlinePublished on January 21, 2020, accessed on April 29, 2021. https://ico.org.uk/about-the-ico/news-and-events/news-and-blogs/2020/01/ico-publishes-code-of-practice-to-protect-children-s-privacy-online/ [4] Tobacco-free generation, UK: Evaluation of vaping advertising regulationsPublished on April 28, 2021, accessed on April 29, 2021. https://www.generationsanstabac.org/actualites/royaume-uni-evaluation-reglementation-publicite-vapotage/ National Committee Against Smoking |