Is Facebook used to promote tobacco, alcohol and other illicit drugs in Sri Lanka? A qualitative study

Abstract

INTRODUCTION & OBJECTIVES: Global evidence reveals that tobacco, alcohol and other illicit drugs (TAIDs) are promoted via Facebook and social media targeting youth, influencing their initiation and use. Extensive analysis of Sri Lankan Facebook posts on TAIDs is not carried out to date. Main objectives were to describe the content of TAIDs related Facebook posts circulated in Sri Lanka and explore the techniques used in them to promote TAIDs. METHODS: TAIDs related Facebook posts publicly shared by Sri Lankans during a three-month period were collected using a snowball sampling technique. A pre-tested data extraction sheet was used and content analysis was carried out by two independent investigators based on deductive thematic analysis method. RESULTS: A total of 763 posts were collected and 710 posts were analyzed after excluding duplicates. Of them, 595 (83.8%) were promotive [Alcohol (369,620/0), Tobacco (142,23.9%), Cannabis (103,17.3%) Other (57,9.6%)]. Commonest theme seen was humor (349,49.2%). Sarcasm (273,38.4%) and political themes (101,14.2%) were also common. Product promotion (388,54.5%) was commoner than brand promotion (70,9.9%). In-depth analysis of Sinhala and Tamil language promotive posts (n=359) found that 231 (64.3%) promoted a product, 202 (56.2%) normalized their use and 115 (32%) glamorized use of TAIDs. The commonest tools used for promotion were words (277, 77.1 0/0) and images (175, 48.4%). CONCLUSION: TAIDs related Facebook posts were mostly promotive in nature and alcohol promotion was the commonest. Regulations to ban advertisement and promotion of TAIDs in Sri Lanka should be expanded to cover social media as recommended by the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.