4 February 2026
Jakarta, Indonesia – Health leaders across Southeast Asia warned that tobacco companies are increasingly exploiting social media and digital platforms to market addictive nicotine products, putting people, particularly youths, at risk.
The warning was raised during the Workshop to Protect Digital Spaces from Tobacco: Implementation of Article 13 of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), held in Jakarta, Indonesia and organized by the Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance (SEATCA), the World Health Organization – Western Pacific Regional Office (WHO-WPRO), and Indonesia Health Policy Forum (RUKKI).
“Digital platforms have become central to the advertising strategy of the tobacco industry, simply because that is where people are,” said Dr. Ulysses Dorotheo, Executive Director of SEATCA. “What we are witnessing is a cross-border ecosystem of marketing and selling that cannot be addressed by a single country alone. This workshop is about building capacity and regional coordination in addressing tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship to ensure we do not move backwards in our fight to end the tobacco epidemic.”
Dr. Ulysses Dorotheo of SEATCA facilitates a session on tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship challenges in ASEAN.
Digital and health experts at the meeting highlighted how tobacco companies use influencers, social media content, and e-commerce platforms to normalize tobacco and nicotine use, often getting around existing national bans on advertising, promotion, and sponsorship.
Xi Yin, representing WHO WPRO, delivers the keynote speech on the importance of Article 13 of the WHO FCTC.
“Protecting digital spaces from tobacco promotion is essential for countries to uphold the WHO FCTC and safeguard public health in an increasingly online world,” said Xi Yin, WHO WPRO’s Coordinator for Health Promotion and Policy Division of Health Promotion Disease Prevention and Control. She also highlighted the continuing relevance of Article 13 that requires countries to ban all forms of tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship (TAPS) amid the rapidly evolving digital spaces.
Regional experiences from countries including Australia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines showed both regulatory innovations and persistent enforcement gaps, particularly in addressing cross-border digital marketing and the spread of tobacco-related misinformation online. Participants discussed the use of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, to strengthen regional cooperation in monitoring and enforcing advertising bans, and identified the need for closer engagement with digital platforms. The discussions culminated in proposals for coordinated national actions and a regional ASEAN approach to curb cross-border tobacco advertising, promotion, and sponsorship (TAPS).
Mouhamad Bigwanto, Executive Director of RUKKI, opens the Workshop to Protect Digital Spaces from Tobacco.
For local organizer, RUKKI, the issue is also about child protection.
“Tobacco marketing reaches children through their phones, their screens, and their favorite influencers, often through misleading claims about “safer” nicotine products when there is none. Without stronger regional cooperation and laws that keep up with the digital world, we risk losing an entire generation to nicotine addiction,” said Mouhamad Bigwanto, Executive Director of RUKKI.
The meeting concluded with commitments from government and civil society representatives to strengthen regional collaboration in curbing digital tobacco marketing and protecting young people from nicotine addiction.
Contact Information:
Ms. Cyresse Ann Achilleos, Media and Communications Officer, SEATCA
Email: cyresse@seatca.org
Mobile: +63 975 701 7130
Ms. Putri Marcelina, Communications Officer, RUKKI
Email: putrimarcelina@rukki.org
Mobile: +62 895 0791 6927
About SEATCA
SEATCA is a multi-sectoral non-governmental alliance promoting health and saving lives by assisting ASEAN countries to accelerate and effectively implement the tobacco control measures contained in the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). SEATCA is an accredited ASEAN entity and an official Observer to the WHO FCTC Conference of Parties. WHO bestowed on SEATCA the World No Tobacco Day Award in 2004 and the WHO Director-General’s Special Recognition Award in 2014.
About RUKKI
Indonesia Health Policy Forum/Ruang Kebijakan Kesehatan Indonesia (RUKKI) is a civil society organization with the primary mission of promoting the integration of health issues across all aspects of public policy in Indonesia. Through advocacy, research, and policy development, RUKKI is committed to creating tangible improvements in public health, emphasizing the importance of evidence-based, independent, and public-interest-oriented policies.