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Government to curb online cigarette ads, protect children's health
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A worker shows hand-rolled kreteks (clove cigarettes) on Jan. 4, 2024, at a cigarette factory in Kudus, Central Java. (Antara/Yusuf Nugroho)
T
he government has committed to curbing online tobacco promotions by forming a special task force to monitor and remove such advertisements, which remain rampant in the digital sphere and pose health risks especially among children and teenagers.
The Health Ministry’s director of prevention and control of non-communicable diseases, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, explained that the task force will include civil organizations, representatives from her institution and the Communications and Digital Ministry, which holds authority over the internet.
Siti further revealed that the ministry is currently working on a regulation to serve as a technical guideline to achieve the objectives of “zero cigarette advertisement online”, as stipulated in Government Regulation (PP) No. 28/2024 concerning the implementing regulations of the 2023 Health Law.
“The regulation will cover advertisements for both conventional cigarettes and e-cigarettes, aiming to prevent the emergence of new young smokers,” she stated in Jakarta on Wednesday, during a joint press briefing with the Free Net From Tobacco (FNFT) coalition that presented various research highlighting the rampant tobacco advertisements on social media along with its potential dangers.
Siti also voiced concern over the increasing number of smokers under the age of 21. An official report from May of last year found that there were 70 million active smokers in Indonesia, with around seven percent of them being children and teenagers aged 10 to 18.
“If we do not handle this now, the number [of smoking children] will continue to grow," she added, while noting the link between smoking and non-communicable diseases such as heart disease and cancer.
Vital Strategies’ 2023 report titled “The Next Frontier in Tobacco Marketing” uncovered evidence of tobacco marketing on social media platforms using a range of tactics, including advergaming or online games designed with the intention of advertising certain products and the use of influencers to promote brands online.
