scholarly journals Exploring the Twitter activity around the eighth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control

2020 ◽  
pp. tobaccocontrol-2020-055889
Author(s):  
Lindsay Robertson ◽  
Ayush Joshi ◽  
Tess Legg ◽  
Georgina Wellock ◽  
Katerina Ray ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Harm Reduction ◽  
Tobacco Control ◽  
Tobacco Industry ◽  
Twitter Data ◽  
Philip Morris ◽  
Twitter Users ◽  
Consumer Organisations ◽  
Twitter Activity ◽  
Available Information ◽  
Biannual Meeting

BackgroundTobacco companies’ intentions to influence the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) via the Conference of Parties (COP; the official biannual meeting where Parties review the Convention) are well documented. We aimed to analyse Twitter data to gain insights into tobacco industry tactics, arguments and allies.MethodsWe retrieved 9089 tweets that included #COP8FCTC between 1 and 9 October 2018. We categorised the tweets’ content and sentiment through manual coding and machine learning. We used an investigative procedure using publicly available information to categorise the most active Twitter users and investigate tobacco industry links. Network analysis was used to visualise interactions and detect communities.ResultsMost tweets were about next-generation products (NGPs) or ‘harm reduction’ (54%) and tended to argue in support of NGPs; around one-quarter were critical of tobacco control (24%). The largest proportion of most active tweeters were NGP advocates, and slightly over half of those had either links to the Philip Morris International (PMI) funded Foundation for a Smoke-Free World (FSFW) and/or to the International Network of Nicotine Consumer Organisations, a network to whom the FSFW granted US$100 300 in 2018. PMI was the most active transnational tobacco company during COP8.ConclusionsThe nature of the activity on Twitter around COP8, including a substantial online presence by PMI executives and NGP advocates with links to organisations funded directly and indirectly by PMI, is highly consistent with PMI’s 2014 corporate affairs strategy, which described engaging tobacco harm reduction advocates to ‘amplify and leverage the debate on harm reduction’ around events such as the COP.

Successful countering of tobacco industry efforts to overturn Thailand's ENDS ban

2020 ◽  
pp. tobaccocontrol-2020-056058
Author(s):  
Roengrudee Patanavanich ◽  
Stanton Glantz
Keyword(s):  
Public Relations ◽  
Harm Reduction ◽  
Tobacco Control ◽  
Tobacco Industry ◽  
Shared Vision ◽  
Tobacco Products ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Philip Morris ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
The Government

BackgroundAfter Thailand enacted laws to ban the import and sale of all types of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS, including e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products (HTPs)) in 2015, pro-ENDS advocacy groups pressured the government to lift the ban, particularly after Philip Morris International (PMI) started promoting its HTP IQOS in 2017.MethodsWe reviewed information related to ENDS in Thailand between 2014 and 2019 from Thai newspaper articles, meeting minutes and letters submitted to government agencies, websites and social media platforms of pro-ENDS networks and Thai tobacco control organisations.ResultsThe tobacco industry and the pro-ENDS groups used five tactics to try to reverse the Thai ban on ENDS: creating front groups, lobbying decision-makers, running public relations campaigns, seeking to discredit tobacco control advocates and funding pro-tobacco harm reduction research. ENDS Cigarette Smoking Thailand (ECST), a pro-ENDS group in Thailand, worked in parallel with Philip Morris Thailand Limited (PMTL) to oppose the ban. The group connected with international coalitions that promote harm reduction through the PMI-funded Foundation for a Smoke-Free World.ConclusionAlthough ECST and PMTL continuously worked to revoke the ban since 2017, the government still kept ENDS illegal as of October 2020. This decision resulted from the strong commitment and collaboration among Thai tobacco control organisations and their shared vision to protect the public’s health from harmful tobacco products. The linkages between the pro-ENDS movement in Thailand and the tobacco companies could inform health advocates and policy-makers in other low and middle income countries facing pressure to market ENDS.

scholarly journals Origins of tobacco harm reduction in the UK: the ‘Product Modification Programme' (1972–1991)

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (e1) ◽  
pp. e12-e18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesse Elias ◽  
Pamela M Ling
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Harm Reduction ◽  
Tobacco Control ◽  
Tobacco Industry ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
British Government ◽  
Tobacco Harm Reduction ◽  
Parliamentary Debate ◽  
Product Modification ◽  
The Uk

ObjectiveTo better understand the current embrace of long-term nicotine maintenance by British governmental agencies and tobacco harm reduction by several leading British public health organisations, describe the context and deliberations of the UK’s first formal tobacco risk reduction programme: ‘Product Modification’.MethodsAnalysis of previously secret tobacco industry documents, news archives and Parliamentary debate records.ResultsFrom 1972 to 1991, the British government sought to investigate safer smoking through the ‘product modification programme'. The Independent Scientific Committee on Smoking and Health (ISCSH) advised the British government on these efforts and collaborated with the tobacco industry, with which government then negotiated to determine policy. The ISCSH operated from four industry-backed premises, which contributed to the ISCSH’s support of safer smoking: (1) reduced toxicity indicates reduced risk; (2) collaboration with the tobacco industry will not undermine tobacco control; (3) nicotine addiction is unavoidable; (4) to curtail cigarette use, solutions must be consumer-approved (ie, profitable). These premises often undermined tobacco control efforts and placed the ISCSH at odds with broader currents in public health. The product modification programme was abandoned in 1991 as the European Community began requiring members to adopt upper tar limits, rendering the ISCSH redundant.Policy implicationsEndorsements of reduced harm tobacco products share the same four premises that supported the product modification programme. Current tobacco harm reduction premises and policies supported by the British government and leading British public health organisations may reflect the historical influence of the tobacco industry.

scholarly journals Toward Supporting End-user Design of Soundscape Sonifications

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katieanna Wolf ◽  
Rebecca Fiebrink
Keyword(s):  
User Interfaces ◽  
Prior Experience ◽  
Sound Design ◽  
End User ◽  
Twitter Data ◽  
User Design ◽  
Twitter Users ◽  
Twitter Activity

In this paper, we explore the potential for everyday Twitter users to design and use soundscape sonifications as an alternative, “calm” modality for staying informed of Twitter activity. We first present the results of a survey assessing how 100 Twitter users currently use and change audio notifications. We then present a study in which 9 frequent Twitter users employed two user interfaces— with varying degrees of automation—to design, customize, and use soundscape sonifications of Twitter data. This work suggests that soundscapes have great potential for creating a calm technol ogy for maintaining awareness of Twitter data, and that sound scapes can be useful in helping people without prior experience in sound design think about sound in sophisticated ways and engage meaningfully in sonification design.

scholarly journals Informing iQOS Regulations in the United States: A Synthesis of What We Know

SAGE Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 215824401989882 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla J. Berg ◽  
Yael Bar-Zeev ◽  
Hagai Levine
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Tobacco Control ◽  
Tobacco Industry ◽  
The United States ◽  
Tobacco Product ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Tobacco Products ◽  
Philip Morris ◽  
International Collaborations ◽  
The U.S

The tobacco industry offers various products, including heated tobacco products (HTPs). Philip Morris International’s (PMI) “iQOS” has the greatest HTP market share, as well as research on its use and impact. iQOS was released in 2014 and is now in more than 40 countries. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced permission for PMI to sell iQOS in the United States in April 2019, and iQOS was launched in October 2019. Decisions pending its modified risk tobacco product (MRTP) application will occur subsequently. The U.S. regulatory efforts regarding iQOS could be informed by examining (a) Philip Morris USA other product marketing efforts and (b) the iQOS market in countries where it is available. This article briefly addresses these two points with extant literature and suggests that future research should address important gaps in what is currently known, including strategic international collaborations and research, which historically has been critical for advancing tobacco control globally.

scholarly journals Needs of LMIC-based tobacco control advocates to counter tobacco industry policy interference: insights from semi-structured interviews

BMJ Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. e044710
Author(s):  
Britta Katharina Matthes ◽  
Lindsay Robertson ◽  
Anna B Gilmore
Keyword(s):  
Tobacco Control ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Tobacco Industry ◽  
Control Policy ◽  
Qualitative Description ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Adoption And Implementation ◽  
National Coalition ◽  
Industry Policy

IntroductionAdvocacy is vital for advancing tobacco control and there has been considerable investment in this area. While much is known about tobacco industry interference (TII), there is little research on advocates’ efforts in countering TII and what they need to succeed. We sought to examine this and focused on low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) where adoption and implementation of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) tend to remain slower and weaker.MethodWe interviewed 22 advocates from eight LMICs with recent progress in a tobacco control policy. We explored participants’ experiences in countering TII, including the activities they undertake, challenges they encounter and how their efforts could be enhanced. We used Qualitative Description to analyse transcripts and validated findings through participant feedback.ResultsWe identified four main areas of countering activities: (1) generating and compiling data and evidence, (2) accessing policymakers and restricting industry access, (3) working with media and (4) engaging in a national coalition. Each area was linked to challenges, including (1) lack of data, (2) no/weak implementation of FCTC Article 5.3, (3) industry ties with media professionals and (4) advocates’ limited capacity. To address these challenges, participants suggested initiatives, including access to country-specific data, building advocates’ skills in compiling and using such data in research and monitoring, and in coalition development; others aiming at training journalists to question and investigate TII; and finally, diverse interventions intended to advance a whole-of-government approach to tobacco control. Structural changes to tobacco control funding and coordination were suggested to facilitate the proposed measures.ConclusionThis research highlights that following years of investment in tobacco control in LMICs, there is growing confidence in addressing TII. We identify straightforward initiatives that could strengthen such efforts. This research also underscores that more structural changes to enhance tobacco control capacity building should be considered.

Nonprobability Sampling and Twitter

2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Rafail
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Application Programming Interface ◽  
Sampling Strategies ◽  
Twitter Data ◽  
Large Databases ◽  
The Social ◽  
Application Programming ◽  
Data Source ◽  
Twitter Activity ◽  
Programming Interface

Twitter data are widely used in the social sciences. The Twitter Application Programming Interface (API) allows researchers to build large databases of user activity efficiently. Despite the potential of Twitter as a data source, less attention has been paid to issues of sampling, and in particular, the implications of different sampling strategies on overall data quality. This research proposes a set of conceptual distinctions between four types of populations that emerge when analyzing Twitter data and suggests sampling strategies that facilitate more comprehensive data collection from the Twitter API. Using three applications drawn from large databases of Twitter activity, this research also compares the results from the proposed sampling strategies, which provide defensible representations of the population of activity, to those collected with more frequently used hashtag samples. The results suggest that hashtag samples misrepresent important aspects of Twitter activity and may lead researchers to erroneous conclusions.

FDA’s reduced exposure marketing order for IQOS: why it is not a reliable global model

2021 ◽  
pp. tobaccocontrol-2020-056316
Author(s):  
Lauren Kass Lempert ◽  
Stella Bialous ◽  
Stanton Glantz
Keyword(s):  
Public Relations ◽  
Tobacco Control ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Tobacco Product ◽  
Tobacco Products ◽  
Sales And Marketing ◽  
Philip Morris ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Usa ◽  
The Difference

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued orders in July 2020 authorising Philip Morris Products S.A. to market its heated tobacco product (HTP) IQOS inside the USA with claims that it reduces exposure to some dangerous substances. FDA’s ‘reduced-exposure’ orders explicitly prohibit the marketing of IQOS with claims that IQOS will reduce harm or the risk of tobacco-related diseases. Under US law, FDA’s IQOS orders are problematic because FDA disregarded valid scientific evidence that IQOS increases exposure to other dangerous toxins and that Philip Morris Products S.A. failed to demonstrate that consumers understand the difference between reduced-exposure and reduced-harm claims. Unfortunately, both ‘reduced-exposure’ and ‘reduced-harm’ are classified as ‘modified risk tobacco products’ under US law. Exploiting this confusion, Philip Morris International used the FDA decision as the basis for marketing and public relations campaigns outside the USA to press governments to reverse policies that ban or regulate the sales and marketing of HTPs, including IQOS. Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control should reject tobacco companies’ unsubstantiated explicit or implied claims of reduced harm associated with HTPs and resist Philip Morris International’s and other companies’ calls to relax HTP regulations based on the FDA’s actions. Instead, parties should adopt policies aligned with the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control when dealing with HTPs and other novel tobacco products.

Twitter users exhibited coping behaviours during the COVID-19 lockdown: an analysis of tweets using mixed methods

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruchi Mittal ◽  
Wasim Ahmed ◽  
Amit Mittal ◽  
Ishan Aggarwal
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
The Body ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Twitter Data ◽  
Long Run ◽  
The World ◽  
Twitter Users ◽  
The Government ◽  
Using Data

Purpose Using data from Twitter, the purpose of this paper is to assess the coping behaviour and reactions of social media users in response to the initial days of the COVID-19-related lockdown in different parts of the world. Design/methodology/approach This study follows the quasi-inductive approach which allows the development of pre-categories from other theories before the sampling and coding processes begin, for use in those processes. Data was extracted using relevant keywords from Twitter, and a sample was drawn from the Twitter data set to ensure the data is more manageable from a qualitative research standpoint and that meaningful interpretations can be drawn from the data analysis results. The data analysis is discussed in two parts: extraction and classification of data from Twitter using automated sentiment analysis; and qualitative data analysis of a smaller Twitter data sample. Findings This study found that during the lockdown the majority of users on Twitter shared positive opinions towards the lockdown. The results also found that people are keeping themselves engaged and entertained. Governments around the world have also gained support from Twitter users. This is despite the hardships being faced by citizens. The authors also found a number of users expressing negative sentiments. The results also found that several users on Twitter were fence-sitters and their opinions and emotions could swing either way depending on how the pandemic progresses and what action is taken by governments around the world. Research limitations/implications The authors add to the body of literature that has examined Twitter discussions around H1N1 using in-depth qualitative methods and conspiracy theories around COVID-19. In the long run, the government can help citizens develop routines that help the community adapt to a new dangerous environment – this has very effectively been shown in the context of wildfires in the context of disaster management. In the context of this research, the dominance of the positive themes within tweets is promising for policymakers and governments around the world. However, sentiments may wish to be monitored going forward as large-spikes in negative sentiment may highlight lockdown-fatigue. Social implications The psychology of humans during a pandemic can have a profound impact on how COVID-19 shapes up, and this shall also include how people behave with other people and with the larger environment. Lockdowns are the opposite of what societies strive to achieve, i.e. socializing. Originality/value This study is based on original Twitter data collected during the initial days of the COVID-19-induced lockdown. The topic of “lockdowns” and the “COVID-19” pandemic have not been studied together thus far. This study is highly topical.

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