Indian tobacco sellers use FB to bypass restrictions and sell bidis

Some tobacco product sellers in India have used Facebook to bypass marketing restrictions and promote sales of bidis, a public health group said on Wednesday after documenting what it described as over 340 instances of canvassing over 9 months.

Facebook policy does not allow the promotion of tobacco products, according to the social media giant’s website.

Vital Strategies, the public health group, said that between December 2020 and August 2021, it had documented 271 instances of direct marketing through images of bidis and 73 instances of indirect marketing that linked the product to lifestyle, celebrations, festivals or remembrance days.