Social media firms failing to protect users from misleading and harmful health adverts, regulator warns

The head of Britain's advertising watchdog has criticised social media firms for failing to protect users from misleading and potentially harmful health adverts.Guy Parker, chief executive of the Advertising Standards Authority, said online advertising had 'amplified harms' and called on the likes of Google and Meta to do more to stop dangerous health claims reaching users.He revealed the ASA's latest monitoring uncovered widespread concerns about adverts for products ranging from baby-sleep devices to menopause supplements and hair-loss treatments.Mr Parker said: 'There's no doubt that online has amplified harms and that's why we've been using AI for a while to sweep for health claims in online ads.'We've seen a rise in ads for home health test kits, testosterone, prostate testing, etc.'Supplements claiming to treat or clear a range of conditions from menopause to autism, injectable peptides trailed as for research purposes only and ads for cosmetic interventions.'Mr Parker said a 'booming' health and wellbeing sector is good for the economy and there are many legitimate products being promoted online.But he cautioned: 'New frontiers are opening up, new trends are emerging, and with them potential ad-related harms. Guy Parker, chief executive of the Advertising Standards Authority, said online advertising had 'amplified harms''And the reality is too many products aren't being advertised responsibly.'The ASA's monitoring system identified 309,000 health-related paid adverts on Google, Meta, TikTok and other websites over a four week period this summer.Among these were more than 30,000 adverts related to seven areas of concern, where the risk to consumers from misleading adverts is particularly high.They were baby colic and reflux products, mushroom supplements, women's hormonal health, fertility and menopause products, magnesium supplements, men's hormonal health, hair-loss treatments and research peptides.Specialists assessed a sample of around 600 of these ads and in every one of the seven categories at least nine in ten were rated a medium or high compliance risk.High-risk adverts involved a clear breach of advertising rules and were potentially harmful to health or safety, while the medium-risk adverts were likely to breach the rules but would require further investigation to confirm it.The most serious concerns involved products marketed to parents of babies.In the baby colic and reflux category, 59 per cent of adverts assessed were rated high risk, the highest proportion of any area examined.More than half were for sleep or elevation devices promoted as helping with reflux, colic or sleep.Jessica Tye, the ASA's regulatory projects manager, said: 'These ads went against established safer sleep advice that babies should sleep on a firm, flat mattress in a clear, separate sleep space.'It's really easy to see why these claims might land with parents who are worried and exhausted.'The ASA has made baby sleep products its highest priority for further action because of the potential for physical harm, including the risk of death.The warning coincided with a Product Safety Alert issued today by the Office for Product Safety and Standards over some baby sleeping bags.It warned parents not to buy or use sleeping bags if they do not have armholes or they include a hood, as babies risk sliding down inside or having their face covered.The products can pose risks of suffocation, overheating, serious injury or death, it added.The safety regulator said nearly 50 recalls or safety reports involving dangerous baby sleeping bags had been issued in the UK since 2023.The ASA research also raised concerns about mushroom supplements, with 53 per cent of such adverts assessed rated high risk.Some targeted people with serious lung conditions including COPD and asthma, while others suggested supplements could repair lung damage.The regulator also found adverts telling smokers they could continue smoking if they took the products.Elsewhere, the ASA found adverts aimed at people with multiple sclerosis or recovering from a stroke which suggested established medical treatment was insufficient.And 83 per cent of adverts assessed in women's hormonal health, fertility and menopause were rated medium risk.The ASA said some supplements made medicinal claims about PMS or menopause symptoms and played on women feeling dismissed or let down by doctors.Mr Parker said social media firms have policies requiring advertisers to comply with ASA rules and they cooperated in removing problem content but revealed the regulator is continuing to identify significant problems.He added: 'We are at a stage where we need to work ever closer with platforms to strengthen preventative measures to tackle these issues that we're monitoring and to improve transparency on how effective those measures are.'And Ms Tye said: 'Tools like investigations, enforcement, and targeted guidance, supercharged by AI monitoring, remain essential but we also want to be spotting problems earlier, focusing on where they matter most, and working with industry platforms and other regulators to stop these ads appearing in the first place.'Ashton Collins, director of Save Face, a register for non-surgical aesthetic practitioners, said social media advertising had 'trivialised these treatments' and warned that the sector included 'unethical, unscrupulous providers whose sole aim is to get your money at whatever cost'.She added: 'It's become a hotbed for that unscrupulous practice.'