Employees of the transnational tobacco company British American Tobacco (BAT) are exploiting the social networking site Facebook to promote BAT and its Dunhill and Lucky Strike cigarette brands, according to an Australian study in the journal Tobacco Control.

The authors of the study urge the development of guidelines for the World Health Organization’s (WHO) global tobacco treaty specifically for the monitoring and enforcement of online tobacco advertising. The WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) bans all forms of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.

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Source:
1. Freeman B, Chapman S. British American Tobacco on Facebook: undermining article 13 of the global World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Tobacco Control 2010; 19: e1-e9. (open access)