Alcohol Brands’ Facebook and Instagram Accounts Are Accessible to Australian Children

This study found that among 195 alcohol brands available in Australia from the top nine companies, 28% of Instagram and 5% of Facebook accounts did not have age-restriction controls activated. Similar proportions of Australian and international accounts on both platforms were not using controls. Only two companies were compliant across all of their accounts.

Authors concluded that compliance with the industry marketing code requirement for age-restriction controls is inconsistent among the largest alcohol companies operating in Australia. The industry-managed regulatory system is not preventing children’s access to alcohol content on social networking sites.