Social Media Discussions on the FDA’s Modified Risk Tobacco Product Authorization of IQOS

Abstract

Background: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized the marketing of the IQOS tobacco heating system as a modified risk tobacco product (MRTP) in July 2020, permitting its ‘reduced exposure’ marketing. This decision is accompanied by much controversy among the global health community. We provide a preliminary analysis of Twitter conversations regarding the MRTP authorization of IQOS by identifying the authors, valence towards the policy decision, source of cited link, and focused topic. Methods: We analyzed 548 tweets mentioning MRTP posted between July 2016 (when PMI submitted the proposal) and October 2020. Results: We found a higher proportion of pro-MRTP valence (25.4%) than anti-MRTP (16.2%). Nearly half of the tweets (47.2%) expressing personal opinions presented pro-MRTP valence (vs. anti-MRTP = 23.9%). The FDA website was more frequently cited in pro-MRTP tweets (30.8% vs. anti = 4.8%), while tobacco control advocates’ websites were cited only in anti-MRTP tweets (77.4% vs. pro = 0). Pro-MRTP valence appeared more frequently in tweets mentioning health (53.1% vs. anti =38.5%) and cessation (100% vs. anti = 0). Nearly 42% of tweets showed a bot score greater than .43, indicating a possibility of automation. Conclusion: Continuous efforts are needed to surveil the industry’s attempts to create a climate of false consensus and circulate misinformation regarding MRTP on social media, as well as to assist non-scientific audiences’ understanding of MRTP.

Keywords:

• Heated tobacco products
• Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
• modified risk tobacco products (MRTP)
• Twitter
• content analysis

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Declaration of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Collaborative Research Fund provided by the authors’ college.