• Media
• Surveillance and monitoring
• Tobacco industry
• Public policy
• Advertising and Promotion

We were behind the curve to address tobacco and electronic cigarette marketing on social media, but should have the foresight to get ahead of new technologies like the metaverse.1 The Tobacco Enforcement and Reporting Movement (TERM) monitors and documents tobacco marketing on social media platforms in India, Indonesia and Mexico.2 The project analyses publicly available social media posts from tobacco company and brand accounts, including those for nontobacco products that tobacco companies have extended to and community marketing that indirectly promotes tobacco products. These posts often offer insight into tobacco company/brands’ marketing strategies.2 3 TERM found early evidence of tobacco companies using their social media accounts to tell followers and readers of their marketing activities through advergaming, on metaverse platforms and via non-fungible tokens (NFTs). This included using metaverse digital avatars to promote positive messages about smoking behaviours and tobacco company sponsorship of metaverse events.4

We are entering a new digital era that may be dominated by the metaverse, a more three-dimensional, game-like version of the internet built on augmented and virtual reality, and NFTs, which are unique digital assets that exist on a blockchain and can be bought, sold and traded, including in the metaverse.5 6 These new tools pose challenges to regulators because they are designed to be decentralised, with only partial control by media platforms.7 However, …