Evaluating policy compliance among leading tobacco brands on Instagram

Instagram hosts pro-tobacco content that may reach youth despite existing US federal and platform-specific policies designed to restrict such content. This study assessed compliance with platform-specific and federal tobacco control policies among leading tobacco brands on Instagram.

This study collected 1654 Instagram posts between October 1, 2022, and September 29, 2024, from the main page and tagged sections of six leading tobacco brand accounts (Vuse, Lost Mary, ZYN, Velo, Lucky Strike, Winston). Posts were coded for compliance with Instagram, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) policies, including age-gating, financial disclosure, presence of health warnings and restricted URLs.

69.4% (n=1148) of posts contained URL links to commercial tobacco websites. Unrestricted access to tobacco content was observed among 46.7% (n=772) of posts. Influencers or celebrities appeared in 19.2% (n=317) of posts, of which 41.6% (n=132) of posts did not disclose a financial relationship between the brand and the influencer or celebrity. 72.6% (n=1200) of posts had a health warning label, while 41.3% (n=683) of posts had an age warning label.

Leading tobacco brands on Instagram often violated platform and federal policies, particularly those concerning age verification, sponsorship disclosure and health warning labelling. Stronger enforcement by Instagram, the FTC and the FDA may be needed to reduce youth exposure to tobacco marketing on social media.