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Promotion of E-Cigarettes on TikTok and Regulatory Considerations

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, ISSN: 1660-4601, Vol: 20, Issue: 10
2023
  • 9
    Citations
  • 0
    Usage
  • 44
    Captures
  • 102
    Mentions
  • 0
    Social Media
Metric Options:   Counts1 Year3 Year

Metrics Details

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Article Description

E-cigarettes are promoted extensively on TikTok and other social media platforms. Platform policies to restrict e-cigarette promotion seem insufficient and are poorly enforced. This paper aims to understand how e-cigarettes are being promoted on TikTok and provide insights into the effectiveness of current TikTok policies. Seven popular hashtag-based keywords were used to identify TikTok accounts and associated videos related to e-cigarettes. Posts were independently coded by two trained coders. Collectively, the 264 videos received 2,470,373 views, 166,462 likes and 3426 comments. The overwhelming majority of videos (97.7%) portrayed e-cigarettes positively, and these posts received 98.7% of the total views and 98.2% of the total likes. A total of 69 posts (26.1%) clearly violated TikTok’s own content policy. The findings of the current study suggest that a variety of predominantly pro-vaping content is available on TikTok. Current policies and moderation processes appear to be insufficient in restricting the spread of pro-e-cigarette content on TikTok, putting predominantly young users at potential risk of e-cigarette use.

Bibliographic Details

Jancey, Jonine; Leaver, Tama; Wolf, Katharina; Freeman, Becky; Chai, Kevin; Bialous, Stella; Bromberg, Marilyn; Adams, Phoebe; Mcleod, Meghan; Carey, Renee N; McCausland, Kahlia

MDPI AG

Environmental Science; Medicine

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