TikTok videos promoting rule-breaking, humor, and shared vaping experiences attract millions of likes, while credible health resources often fail to capture young people's attention, revealing a growing challenge for public health communication.
Study: #NoIDVape: A content analysis of illicit vape messaging in young people's information sources. Image credit: Sophon Nawit/Shutterstock.com
Vaping is a fast-moving trend among young people in the UK, but little is known about illicit vaping: the use of unregulated vapes, or electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes). A recent study published in the journal Addiction examined how illicit vaping is portrayed in TikTok videos and educational resources that young people may encounter online.
Youth vaping rises despite tighter regulations
Youth vaping has risen sharply in recent years, becoming an increasing concern for public health officials in the UK. According to the latest figures cited by the authors, around one in five people aged 11–17 have tried vaping, while 7% are current users, a marked increase from earlier estimates, when fewer than 1% reported regular use. The trend has prompted concerns that early exposure to vaping could increase the risk of nicotine dependence among young people.
In response, UK regulators have tightened restrictions on vaping products. It is illegal to sell vapes to anyone under 18, disposable vapes have been banned, and the government has introduced measures aimed at preventing vape marketing from appealing to children. Yet despite these safeguards, underage access remains common, and concerns have grown over the availability of illicit vaping products.
In the UK, illicit vapes are devices that fail to comply with regulations governing nicotine strength, tank size, product notification, and health warnings. Some exceed the legal nicotine limit of 20 mg/mL, while others are counterfeit products manufactured outside regulated supply chains.
Beyond regulatory violations, these devices may pose additional health risks, particularly when they contain undisclosed substances. Investigations have identified counterfeit vapes containing psychoactive compounds such as Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and Spice, a synthetic cannabinoid, raising concerns about what young users may be inhaling unknowingly.
TikTok becomes a key source of vape information
Earlier research showed a staggering 1.5 billion views of 808 TikTok videos promoting vaping. This suggests the large-scale exposure of young people to content that actively pushes vaping through humor, sensory appeal, and vaping tricks. This can normalize vaping, legal and illicit, while desensitizing viewers to the chances and risks of nicotine addiction.
In essence, this can function similarly to youth-appealing marketing content, subverting existing marketing guidelines and evading detection via new hashtags.
Educational resources also discuss the risks of vaping, but their content has not been systematically analyzed. The current study aims to provide a comparative analysis of the presentation of illicit vaping on TikTok, a leading social media platform, versus institutional messaging.
Most young people today get their information through social media, and their feeds are largely determined by algorithms. Conversely, public health messaging directed at this age group still relies on websites. The findings of the study may shed light on “a potential disconnect between the regulated, institutional messaging intended for young people and the content they are encountering in everyday digital spaces.”
Comparing TikTok trends with health messaging
Using Google, the researchers searched for health and education websites offering information on illicit vaping, and for publicly available TikTok videos, using eight hashtags related to illicit vaping, such as “#NoIDVape” and “#puffbundles”. A young person with lived experience of vaping was involved to ensure the findings reflected actual search experience.
The study found striking contrasts in the way illicit vaping content was presented across the two resource types.
TikTok videos
They found 58 TikTok videos dealing with illicit vaping. Nearly half (47%) portrayed it positively (trivializing and glamorizing it), 31% were neutral, and 22% portrayed it negatively.
Videos classified as “inform and educate” content were often presented as news reports, discussing issues around illicit vaping, including health harms, legislation, age restrictions, and ease of access. Sensationalism and extreme examples often characterized such videos.
There were five million likes across videos with positive depictions of illicit vaping. However, the authors point out that informational videos, including those dealing with vaping-related legislation, underage sales, and health harms, also had millions of likes, indicating their substantial online reach.
The researchers note, however, that audience demographics were not examined, meaning engagement with these videos may not have come solely from young people.
Nine main themes emerged in the videos. Videos could belong to multiple themes. The most common themes, with over 21 million likes among them, were: Apathy towards law (57%), Entertain/Humor (50%), and Subculture and Shared Experience (50%).
In these categories, videos promoted illicit vaping as a socially acceptable activity. Content creators apparently did not care about keeping the law and presented illicit vaping as part of an emerging rebellious subculture. Such videos typically celebrated illicit vaping as fun and glamorous, and as part of rule-breaking behavior (36%). These videos appeared homemade, were entertaining, and had the highest aggregated likes, at 24.5 million, as of 20 February, 2025.
On TikTok, users shared tips on how to circumvent underage prohibitions and regulatory oversight. The videos typically presented methods to circumvent vaping laws (48% of videos) or keep vaping-related activity secret from authorities or parents (40%). Many used TikTok to expand their businesses, offering vapes as part of bundles containing confectionery or cosmetics, or selling them without age verification.
Educational and institutional resources
Accurate content on vaping
Official and educational sites presented socially responsible and good-quality content, often from established sources. They were mostly digital information guides or web pages with detailed information on vaping (89%). However, only 63% provided substantial coverage of illicit vaping, mostly very briefly, and only 17% were rated ‘good’ for their coverage of the risks of this behavior.
Such paragraphs dealt with dangerous chemicals in vapes, including toxic metals like lead or chromium, and the associated risks of cancer and other diseases. Some mentioned regulations surrounding vaping and its value in smoking cessation. They also discussed the risk of nicotine addiction.
A single resource outlined how to detect illegal vaping, including indicators such as an excessive number of puffs or packaging that did not comply with health regulations.
Irrelevant or unattractive content format
In contrast to the attractive TikTok videos, only about 40% of the educational resources rated “Good” or higher when evaluated for their relevance and appeal to youth. The best-rated sites used color, animations, and interactive features to increase user appeal. They also used effective tactics to draw users in, such as questions that begin with “Did you know?”
They provided the necessary information free of jargon, using the language young people share to increase engagement.
Conversely, dense, text-heavy resources were rated poorly, as were those that focused mostly on complying with the law. These often presented rules in an oversimplified or moralistic manner.
While educational resources were generally accurate, evidence-based, and often rated as good quality overall, they tended to be serious and gave little information on the health risks of illicit vaping.
Public health messaging struggles to match TikTok
The authors suggest that TikTok may be contributing to an illicit vaping subculture where young people exchange tips about accessing and using vapes while evading regulations. In contrast, accurate and helpful public health information is available but not in a youth-relevant format, and largely skips the issue of illicit vaping.
The predominant exposure of adolescents to TikTok and other similar content could contribute to a one-sided view of illicit vaping as normal and romantic or adventurous, while downplaying the risks. The authors suggest that legislation and regulation alone, including measures proposed in the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, may be inadequate to deal with the rising prevalence of illicit vaping without effective youth-targeted large-scale messaging.
“These findings underscore the need for youth-informed educational resources, with young people repositioned as experts in the co-production of impactful and relevant content.”
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