Use of Social Media to Raise Awareness about Harms of Vaping

6 Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim asked the Minister for Health what are the strategies to engage social media platforms and advertising on social media to raise awareness about the harms of vaping and to discourage the use of vapes and habit of vaping among youths in Singapore.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health (Ms Rahayu Mahzam) (for the Minister for Health): Mr Speaker, my response will also cover the matters raised in the written questions by Dr Wan Rizal, which are scheduled for today’s Sitting.

There is a global rise in the use of e-vaporisers among youths. Marketing, including through social media and influencers, is largely targeted at youths, which contributed to its widespread usage amongst this age group. Many youths picked up the vaping habit, thinking it is harmless because it smells like fruits, and they make it a lifestyle habit among their friends. However, we all know that vaping is harmful. The fact that it is taking root among youths makes it even more harmful. Many countries allowed vaping, only to try to restrict its consumption now. Fortunately, Singapore saw its potential harm and banned it from the start.

The Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act, or the Tobacco Act, also prohibits advertisement of e-vaporisers. As we all know, like all domestic laws, the Tobacco Act applies to vaping-related content published in Singapore and by Singapore-connected persons or entities. However, the Internet and social media is a global ecosystem and having domestic laws that ban harmful content or advertisements does not mean that these materials would not come in from a foreign source or a foreign influencer. That is the nature of online enforcement today.

But we are not without agency and we have put in place several measures. For example, firstly, social media and e-commerce platforms are aware that under the Tobacco Act, they are expected to exercise due diligence and proactively remove vaping-related content that target Singapore residents. Enforcement actions may be taken against platforms that are found with inadequate processes to detect and remove vaping-related contents. The Ministry of Health (MOH) and Health Sciences Authority (HSA) will continue to work closely with the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) and the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) to engage these platforms.

Secondly, under the Code of Practice for Online Safety, the IMDA designated social media services with significant reach or impact to minimise users' exposure to harmful content. The designated social media services are Facebook, HardwareZone, Instagram, TikTok, X and YouTube.

Thirdly, HSA has been monitoring illicit sales of e-vaporisers via social media, e-commerce and messaging platforms, and carrying out operations to remove e-vaporiser content. HSA is trying to expand its efforts and is reviewing the legal penalties to strengthen the deterrence against advertising, importation and distribution of e-vaporisers.

Fourthly, even as we remove e-vaporisers content, we also try to increase pro-health content. The Health Promotion Board (HPB) also launched a vape-free campaign in 2023, including using social media, targeting youths and younger adults.

Mr Speaker: Mr Zhulkarnain.

Mr Zhulkarnain Abdul Rahim (Chua Chu Kang): Thank you, Speaker. And I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the answer. I think most of my supplementary questions have been answered, but just one more. I spoke about this in Parliament in one of my speeches in the Committee of Supply. There is a strong link between vaping and cannabis abuse. In Canada, 29% of cannabis-using individuals aged 15 years or older indicated that vaping is their preferred method for cannabis use. Will MOH conduct a study on this link and risks in terms of the usage of vaping and drug abuse?

Ms Rahayu Mahzam: Yes, there is a lot of research and data surrounding this information, and we are keeping track of this. In fact, that is our concern because there is some misinformation also spreading among young people, even amongst adults, thinking that e-vaporisers are harmless; that, in fact, they could be cessation products. The truth is that there is a lot of data that suggests that they are gateway products to smoking as well as to drug use. So, these are things that we need to continue building knowledge on and also disseminating information on.

Mr Speaker: Mr Yip Hon Weng.

Mr Yip Hon Weng (Yio Chu Kang): Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for her response. I have two supplementary questions. Can the Ministry elaborate on any plans to involve youth representatives or youth-led organisations in the development and implementation of anti-vaping campaigns on social media, ensuring that the message is relevant as well as relatable to the target audience?

Secondly, given the constantly changing and evolving nature of social media platforms and online trends, how does the Ministry adapt its strategy to remain effective in reaching out to youths, particularly considering the rapid proliferation of new vaping products as well as marketing tactics?

Ms Rahayu Mahzam: Mr Speaker, the Member raised a very valid point. Indeed, it is important for us to have an understanding and keep aware of the trends that are happening in the space. Which is why when we did the vape-free campaign in 2023, we did work with National Youth Council (NYC) and the youth organisations to understand and appreciate the nuances that would be helpful. We worked with social media influencers and the different platforms to make sure that the information that is given out there is curated and will be reaching the groups that we target.

Indeed, this is going to be a work in progress. We have already ongoing relations with the youth organisations and we have plans to continue building on these efforts. And I hope that we will also continue to get support from Members in disseminating the information to the right target audience.

Mr Speaker: Dr Wan Rizal.

Dr Wan Rizal (Jalan Besar): Thank you, Mr Speaker. My concern is really with regards to the monitoring of and regulating the influencers in promoting vaping products. I thank the Senior Parliamentary Secretary for sharing the efforts to mitigate vaping, but I do believe that the influencers have a very big impact on our youths today. From the accountability perspective, what measures are in place or what considerations would the Ministry take before holding such influencers accountable for promoting vaping products, especially if they are found circumventing advertising regulations?

My second supplementary question is with regards to the legal and regulatory updates. Given the evolving landscape of digital marketing, does the Ministry plan to update existing laws and regulations to cover newer forms of digital promotions, such as those through the influencers and viral challenges?

Ms Rahayu Mahzam: Mr Speaker, HSA is already doing upstream efforts in looking at the online space on sales and supplies of these e-vaporisers by monitoring illicit sales of e-vaporisers through social media, e-commerce and messaging platforms, and actually carries out operations regularly to target the sales of e-vaporisers on these platforms. We also have been engaging the larger platforms like Instagram, Facebook and Carousell to remove postings of illegal sales of such products.

As it stands already, it is illegal. All advertisements and sales of e-vaporisers are prohibited under the Tobacco (Control of Advertisements and Sale) Act. Recently, MOH and HSA issued a letter of notice to 16 social media and e-commerce platforms in March this year to remind them that hosting vaping-related content is in breach of the Tobacco Act. The onus is on these platforms to exercise due diligence and proactively remove vaping-related content that are targeted at Singapore residents. Enforcement actions may be taken against these platforms if they are found to have inadequate processes to detect.

We will continue to work with different agencies like MCI as well as IMDA. So, we are taking a multi-pronged approach on this. On the front, with the digital platforms, we are going upstream, we are trying to monitor, we are engaging with the platforms and we are also educating our people. So, I think this is something that we do need a whole-of-community support on, and we will do what we can to ensure that we will not let this take root in our community, but we do hope to get support from the community as well, to disseminate this message and to also extend the right information to the youths.