Social Media: Substances Unfit for Human Consumption

Question

Asked by

To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to prevent substances which are not fit for human consumption from being advertised and sold on social media platforms as physique enhancing products.

My Lords, the Government recognise the serious risks posed by substances marketed online that are unsafe for human consumption. Under the Online Safety Act, platforms must take proactive steps to prevent and remove illegal content, including the promotion or sale of unlawful substances, and to tackle fraud. Where products fall within the definition of medicines, robust controls apply to their sale, supply and advertising, and unauthorised products are subject to enforcement action.

I thank the Minister for her Answer and accept that this is a cross-government problem; the Department of Health could just as easily have taken this Question. What exactly are the Government going to do to make sure that influencers who make money out of saying, “You will look better if you take certain drugs”, are punished? If we cannot get at them, will we be closing down the sites or platforms on which they are doing this marketing?

The Online Safety Act has duties in respect of children. Platforms that provide services to children must ensure that harmful content is not provided. Ofcom’s children’s harms guidance makes it clear that sponsored or influencer-promoted content can be in scope where it actively encourages children to consume harmful substances. Ofcom has considerable powers to monitor compliance with the Act and Parliament has given it the ability to fine and take enforcement action, which I think everyone in this Chamber supports.

My Lords, I wish to raise a personal issue. For about three months now, I have been plagued by complaints from members of the public who have seen videos and digital images apparently of me promoting certain medicines on Instagram and Facebook. These medicines generally refer to erectile dysfunction and other issues with the prostate. I wonder what we can do about this kind of advertising, because people have been paying money for these completely dangerous remedies.

My noble friend raises an important and serious point. Fraud is illegal and a priority offence under the Online Safety Act, and platforms are required to act where services are used for scams or misleading advertisements. It is in Ofcom’s hands to ensure compliance with the Act and the duties under it, and we have made it very clear to Ofcom that we support it taking that kind of enforcement action.

My Lords, is the problem here not often one of classification? Selective androgen receptor modulators, or SARMs, which are so often the basis of the physique-enhancing supplements to which the Question refers, are classified as novel foods by the FSA. This means that while they are not approved for human use and cannot be marketed as dietary or medical supplements, they can be sold online as research-use only chemicals, which is how people get around the social media loophole. Should the Government not be moving to reclassify them and close the legal loophole which allows them to be sold online?

Substances that are illegal or that cause harm to children are caught under the Online Safety Act. Where they are classified as medicines, that is caught by the MHRA under the Human Medicines Regulations. Products sold on online marketplaces that fall outside of medicines or food regimes must still be safe and comply with UK requirements. The Office for Product Safety and Standards oversees that. The Department for Business and Trade is currently consulting on changes, using the powers under the PRAM Act, which is now in force, to look at what more needs to be done to make sure that online marketplaces are marketing safe products to UK consumers.

My Lords, my question is very much on the same lines as that from the noble Lord, Lord Addington. Influencers play a huge part in this. We have just seen the Enhanced Games on television. For anyone not aware of it, it is a sporting event where they pump the athletes full of as many drugs as possible so that they can win races. Does the Minister have any plans for how we will tackle this and stop young people buying things online such as testosterone without any prescription whatever?

The Government support clean competition in sport, and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport supports UK Anti-Doping and UK Sport in their efforts to protect clean sport and educate athletes on the risks of performance-enhancing drugs. The Online Safety Act covers situations where illegal products are marketed, and it is for Ofcom to enforce that area. As I mentioned, the children’s harms guidance makes it clear that sponsor or influencer-promoted content can be in scope where it actively encourages children to consume harmful substances.

My Lords, the BBC investigation found that these illegal substances are readily available from online sellers based both in the UK and overseas, yet there is no systematic requirement for platforms to know who is placing these advertisements, particularly of the kind that the noble Lord, Lord Winston, referred to. Will the Government ensure that forthcoming work on online advertising standards includes a requirement for platforms to verify the identity of those placing advertisements for health and physique-enhancing products so that enforcement bodies can identify and pursue those responsible?

The noble Lord is right that the Online Safety Act already covers illegal content and child safety duties. Those duties are in force. Ofcom is now turning its focus to the additional duties for categorised services, which will include protections against fraudulent advertising. We are expecting Ofcom’s consultation on the additional duties next month, which should cover a number of the issues that the noble Lord raises.

My Lords, to pick up on the point that was well made by the noble Baroness, Lady Bull, sellers of unapproved SARMs routinely use labels in their advertising such as “not for human consumption”, while simultaneously promoting their physique-enhancing effects elsewhere on social media. Since sophisticated AI advertising tools allow sellers to target consumers with almost perfect precision, these tricks are actually no less effective than openly advertising illegal products. Can the Minister tell us who is responsible for enforcing against this and what progress they are making?

Where it is claimed that products are sold for research purposes only, that does not prevent regulatory action where the available evidence suggests that they are in fact unauthorised medicines intended for human use. If the product is classified as a medicine and is not appropriately authorised, the MHRA can take compliance and enforcement action.

My Lords, my noble friend the Minister has, very properly, talked about enforcement and the role of Ofcom, but there are other enforcement agencies which have a role in all of this. The issue of advertising standards has been raised, and that has got to be looked at, but there is also enforcement by trading standards. Can my noble friend the Minister tell us what discussions have taken place with DBT about the powers and resources available to trading standards to take these cases, which are often complicated, against bodies with a great deal of financial power?

My noble friend raises an important question. The landscape here includes action by law enforcement agencies, such as that under the fraud strategy. It involves the MHRA and Ofcom, and indeed the ASA and trading standards. These activities are co-ordinated across government to make sure that there is effective action. On the specific resources available to trading standards, I will take that question back to the department and come back to him.

My Lords, do we not need effective legislation and a regulator that will actually do the job? Which one is failing us—the regulator or the legislation?