04 September,2009 08:15 AM IST | | MiD DAY Correspondent
Legal notice served to the social networking website for pro-smoking pages and cigarette, cigar clubs
Smoking in a public place is a legal offence that we all know.
However, cigarette aficionados promoting the puff on social networking webpages can also land in trouble.
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'Tobacco Free India Coalition' a civil society organisation has sent a legal notice to Facebook for promoting smoking through cigarette and cigar fan clubs and groups dedicated to a particular tobacco brand.
"Many pages on Facebook promote various cigarette brands and the concept of smoking. All such pages are visible on all computers in India through which Facebook.com is accessed.
The notice warns the owners and managers of their legal liabilities and says the advertisers and owners of the company are also equally liable and responsible for any such advertisement," the notice faxed to Facebook office in Ireland said.
National Convenor of Tobacco Free India Coalition Hemant Goswami said, "Apparently Facebook claims to have a policy of not advertising tobacco products through paid advertisements on its website.
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However, this claim remains ineffective as it allows all brands and tobacco products to be promoted through member pages and groups.
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Contrary to claims, Facebook also allows promotion of smoking culture through advertisements."
The Indian law on tobacco control, Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003 provides for imprisonment of up to five years for violating the provisions relating to prohibition of promotion tobacco products and brands.
"Companies allowing promotion of tobacco products need to be punished and should be made to pay damages to offset any profits they might be making," Goswami said.
Governments across the globe spend billions to end the promotion of tobaccos and have also joined hands by way of the international treaty called "Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC)".
Article 14 of FCTC, the treaty signed and ratified by 156 countries, calls for complete prohibition of cross border advertisement or promotion of tobacco products and makes it obligatory on all 156 countries which have ratified the treaty to enforce the laws.
What The law says
Section 5: (1) No person engaged in, or purported to be engaged in the production, supply or distribution of cigarettes or any other tobacco products shall advertise and no person having control over a medium shall cause to be advertised cigarettes or any other tobacco products through that medium and no person shall take part in any advertisement which directly or indirectly suggests or promotes the use or consumption of cigarettes or any other tobacco products.
(a) display, cause to display, or permit or authorise to display any advertisement of cigarettes or any other tobacco product; or
(b) sell or cause to sell, or permit or authorise to sell a film or video tape containing advertisement of cigarettes or any other tobacco product; or
(c) distribute, cause to distribute, or permit or authorise to distribute to the public any leaflet, hand-bill or document which is or which contains an advertisement of cigarettes or any other tobacco product.
