Youth anti-smoking advocating groups state that tobacco giants use social networks like Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and My Space to market their products and sell them.

Mary-Elizabeth Cole, leader of one of such organizations, admitted that tobacco companies’ fan clubs have founded interest groups and accounts on the aforementioned web-sites in order to promote tobacco products, and encourage teenagers to try them, therefore, offsetting victories achieved by public health groups.

She said that a report by Darwin College researchers showed that tobacco companies are overusing internet, since social networks do not provide the same strict regulations and enforcement as print media and TV advertisements.

Ms. Cole added that the lawmakers should amend existing laws to include internet ads as well, so that the tobacco industry would restrict their on-line influence on younger generations.

Australian Public Health Minister, Nicola Roxon, declared that in case the report’s findings are correct, the tobacco industry would be penalized, since they had come one step too far in encouraging adolescents to take up cigarettes.

The Head of Australian Health Ministry said that she had ordered her staff to investigate the impact of internet advertisements of tobacco products on Australian teenagers and the actions that could be taken to stop this pernicious practice. She added they hope it is not true, since it is inadmissible to market the products that have been related with so many severe health complications.

According to the statistics, more than 10.000 Australians are passing away due to various illnesses caused by smoking. Anna Hewitt, Queensland Cancer Institute researcher and head of anti-smoking programs compilation, said that smokers are usually get hooked on the habit in adolescence.

She said that it has been proven that teenagers are highly responsive to all types of marketing when it comes to tobacco advertisements, and social networks are the most effective promotion tool, as youngsters believe everything they read there. Additional evidence came from Sydney University Department of Behavioral Studies, where researches have showed that there are quite few ways left for Big Tobacco to promote the products they make.

The research leader said they think that tobacco companies have special departments that deal with promotion in social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, since the administration of these sites can’t control the contents of users’ posts and relies on users to alert them of inappropriate messages.

The United States authorities are also facing similar problems.

However, in contrast to Australian colleagues, US Lawmakers have already started to consider a bill to penalize those who promote tobacco products over the web.