Marijuana Advertising Ethics

1075 Words3 Pages

Legal & Ethical Concerns of Marijuana Advertising on Social Media

Introduction

In 2017, there were a reported 2.8 billion people who used social media, which makes up about 40% of the world’s population. These statistics can be broken down further by individual social media sites: Facebook had a reported 1.9 billion users, Youtube had 1 billion, and Instagram had 600 million. The numbers are sure to rise in the next few years as both the world’s population grows and digital marketing becomes even more prominent. Among the billions of social media users, there is a percentage dedicated to businesses who use social media as part of their marketing strategy. The sheer number of people who use services like Facebook and Instagram on a daily …show more content…

However, this has not come without its own set of unique challenges for both marijuana businesses and the attorneys representing them. Although marijuana has been legalized at the state level in several places, it is still federally illegal, which raises some concerns regarding both the legality and the ethicality of advertising marijuana products on social media.

Facebook Algorithms & Monitors: Tracking Illegal Content Facebook in particular has stringent rules regarding what can and can’t be posted on the site. According to their Advertising Policies, businesses cannot promote illegal products; additionally, their Community Standards state that posts may be removed if they do not adhere to community guidelines. How does Facebook track down illegal content? The social media platform relies on both artificial intelligence and people to monitor content that is posted on the site. For example, an algorithm might be programmed to flag posts with the words “pot” or “weed” in them. Human monitors would then review the flagged posts and determine if the content is …show more content…

Given Facebook’s inconsistency in monitoring and removing content, there is the potential for misleading or false information on marijuana to be made available, which could have dangerous implications, especially for users that are under 21 years old.

To avoid these issues, some marijuana businesses might choose to share information that is purely educational in tone, carefully avoiding the use of slang terms and making sure all information is accurate.

However, as many in the cannabis industry can attest to, “educational” content does not necessarily mean one’s social media page is safe from being shut down.

State Advertisement Guidelines & Social Media Use For those in the marijuana industry, advertising in any form is a tight rope to walk. It is important for businesses to be aware of the risks involved in advertising on social media, especially advertising that involves a federally illegal

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