’<i>To be honest, I’m really scared’</i>: perceptions and experiences of intimidation in the LMIC-based tobacco control community

Matthes, Britta; Zatoński, Mateusz; Alebshehy, Raouf; Carballo, Mercedes; Gilmore, Anna

doi:10.1136/tc-2022-057271

Cited by 7 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 35 publications

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“…95 Seriously threating advocates in LMICs also occurs. 96 By contrast, where the tobacco industry is denormalised, lobbying efforts are increasingly directed through third parties, the scale of which can be overwhelming. In the case of standardised tobacco products in the UK, 82 third parties with links to the tobacco industry opposed the policy giving a misleading impression of widespread opposition.…”

Section: Table 1 Commercial Sector Practices and Examples Of How They...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Defining and conceptualising the commercial determinants of health

Gilmore¹,

Fabbri²,

Baum³

et al. 2023

The Lancet

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251

108

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Section: Table 1 Commercial Sector Practices and Examples Of How They...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Defining and conceptualising the commercial determinants of health

Gilmore¹,

Fabbri²,

Baum³

et al. 2023

The Lancet

Self Cite

251

108

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Intimidation against advocates and researchers in the tobacco, alcohol and ultra-processed food spaces: a review

Evans-Reeves,

Matthes,

Chamberlain

et al. 2024

Health Promotion International

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Unhealthy commodity industries (UCIs) engage in corporate political activity, using diverse practices, including intimidatory tactics, to thwart, delay and dilute regulations that threaten their businesses. While examples of such intimidation exist across multiple sectors, no attempt has been made to synthesize these. Furthermore, much of the literature focuses on intimidation of policy-makers. Less is known about the types of intimidation experienced by advocates and researchers and their responses to this intimidation. This scoping review explores the literature across the tobacco, alcohol and ultra-processed food spaces for instances of intimidation and categorizes them inductively and deductively based on a framework of intimidation types. Similarly, responses to intimidation were mapped onto a pre-existing framework. We found intimidatory tactics towards advocates and researchers in every sector. Public discreditation, followed by legal threats and action, complaints and freedom of information requests were most frequently mentioned and often attributed to UCIs or their third parties. Surveillance, threats of violence, violence, burglary and bribery were less prevalent in the literature and their perpetrators were unknown. Those intimidated reported carrying on as normal, defensive action (changing/adapting work, taking security precautions) or, as was most reported, offensive action (exposing intimidation, correcting misinformation, taking legal action). The similarity of intimidation across sectors suggests that UCIs engage in similar intimidatory tactics regardless of sector. Understanding more about the scale of intimidation and how it impacts the work and wellbeing of those affected is essential, as is learning more about the ways researchers and advocates can effectively pre-empt and respond.

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Developing structures to support researchers studying health-harming industries

Pitt,

Thomas,

McCarthy

et al. 2024

Health Promotion International

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It is well-documented that health-harming industries and the groups they fund use a range of tactics that seek to interfere with academic research. With the development of scholarship relating to the Commercial Determinants of Health (CDoH), an increasing number of public health researchers are working to examine the activities of health-harming industries and the impacts they have on health and equity. However, there has been limited research investigating the experiences of these researchers and the range of strategies that could be used to support them. This qualitative interpretivist study involved 10 online focus groups with 28 public health researchers (ranging from PhD students to emeritus professors) in Australia and the UK. The researchers worked on issues related to the alcohol, gambling, tobacco or ultra-processed food industries. Participants outlined a range of personal and professional risks relating to their research, including social media attacks, complaints to university personnel and funders, attempts to discredit their research, legal threats and freedom of information requests. Some described the impacts this had on their overall well-being, and even on their family life. They commented that current university systems and structures to support them were variable and could differ between individuals within institutions. This often left researchers feeling isolated and unsupported. Universities should recognize the risks to researchers working on issues relating to health-harming industries. They should proactively develop strategies and resources to inform and support researchers to conduct research that is important for public health and equity.

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’To be honest, I’m really scared’: perceptions and experiences of intimidation in the LMIC-based tobacco control community

Cited by 7 publications

References 35 publications

Defining and conceptualising the commercial determinants of health

Defining and conceptualising the commercial determinants of health

Intimidation against advocates and researchers in the tobacco, alcohol and ultra-processed food spaces: a review

Developing structures to support researchers studying health-harming industries

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