U.S. tobacco companies are flouting policies intended to shield young people from pro-tobacco messaging on Instagram, a new study says.

Such messaging is supposed to be “age-gated” on Instagram, with access denied to people under 21, researchers said.

But an Instagram account registered to a fictitious user younger than 21 found major gaps in this policy, researchers reported Jan. 27 in the journal Tobacco Control.

For example, underage users had unrestricted access to tobacco content nearly half the time (47%), researchers found.

“Our findings highlight the need for stricter enforcement of existing policies by the [Federal Trade Commission] and [U.S. Food and Drug Administration], and enhanced enforcement efforts by Instagram to ensure community guidelines are followed,” concluded the research team led by Jon-Patrick Allem, an associate professor at the Rutgers Institute for Nicotine and Tobacco Studies in New Brunswick, New Jersey.

For the study, researchers collected nearly 1,700 Instagram posts relating to vaping, smoking and nicotine pouches from the accounts of six leading tobacco brands: Vuse, Lost Mary, ZYN, Velo, Lucky Strike and Winston.

Results showed posts from tobacco companies flouted regulations and policies in several ways:

• More than two-thirds (70%) of tobacco-related posts contained web links to commercial tobacco websites.

• Nearly 42% of tobacco messaging from influencers or celebrities didn’t disclose a financial relationship with the brand.

• Only 41% carried an age warning label, while 73% carried a health warning label.

“Taken together, these findings highlight ongoing concerns regarding tobacco posts on Instagram, compliance with existing policies, and the potential impact of these posts on shaping youth pro-tobacco-related attitudes and behaviors,” researchers concluded.

Specific brands were associated with different strategies, researchers said.

For example, a lack of age-gating was observed mainly in posts from two brands, Lucky Strike and Lost Mary.

“This is particularly concerning given that Lost Mary has been shown to use marketing tactics in their Instagram posts that may be appealing to youth (eg, featuring flavored products and use of bright colors),” the researchers noted.

In another example, influencers or celebrities partnered with Vuse and Velo regularly failed to disclose their financial relationship across multiple posts.

“Tobacco and e-cigarette companies have increasingly turned to platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and others to market e-cigarettes, heated tobacco products and nicotine pouches because they know that’s where they’ll find their next customers: kids and young people,” said Caroline Renzulli, a spokesperson for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

“This study demonstrates that Instagram’s policies on tobacco advertising are not only being poorly enforced, but also do little to safeguard users from content promoting tobacco and nicotine use,” she continued.

“Alarmingly, Instagram and other social media platforms continue to allow tobacco and e-cigarette companies to directly market to young people through various policy loopholes — including one that allows tobacco, e-cigarette and nicotine pouch brands to amass tens of thousands of followers,” Renzulli said.

In conclusion, Renzulli said: "The study raises legitimate questions about how seriously the world’s biggest social media platforms take their responsibility to protect young users.”

More information

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids has more on tobacco marketing on social media.