Social Media: Substances Unfit for Human Consumption

Lord Addington Excerpts

Wednesday 17th June 2026 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Lord Addington]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to prevent substances which are not fit for human consumption from being advertised and sold on social media platforms as physique enhancing products.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (Baroness Lloyd of Effra) (Lab)]

My Lords, the Government recognise the serious risks posed by substances marketed online that are unsafe for human consumption. Under the Online Safety Act, platforms must take proactive steps to prevent and remove illegal content, including the promotion or sale of unlawful substances, and to tackle fraud. Where products fall within the definition of medicines, robust controls apply to their sale, supply and advertising, and unauthorised products are subject to enforcement action.

[Lord Addington (LD)]

I thank the Minister for her Answer and accept that this is a cross-government problem; the Department of Health could just as easily have taken this Question. What exactly are the Government going to do to make sure that influencers who make money out of saying, “You will look better if you take certain drugs”, are punished? If we cannot get at them, will we be closing down the sites or platforms on which they are doing this marketing?