Full Breakdown
AI Bots Flooded UK Public Consultation on Disposable Vapes Ban
By Drooid · · How we work
In this breakdown
01
AI Bot Interference in the Consultation
In October 2023 the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) opened a public consultation on the “smoke-free generation” proposal to ban disposable e-cigarettes. DHSC’s analysis, using bot-detection tools, found that 90,835 of the 118,756 submissions – 76 % – were generated by automated scripts. The overwhelming majority of those fake responses opposed the ban and were submitted from a small number of IP addresses, often duplicating the same answer. The DHSC excluded the automated entries from its decision-making process.
02
Background and Legislative Context
The consultation preceded the Tobacco and Vapes Act, which received Royal Assent in April 2024 and, among other measures, prohibited the sale of disposable vapes from June 2024. The Act also bans the sale of tobacco to anyone born on or after January 1 2009. The Labour government, which inherited the bill in 2024, enacted the ban into law after the consultation period closed.
Visual evidence
Images from the story
03
Data on Bot-Generated Responses
- Total submissions received: 118,756 (DHSC).
- Automated submissions identified: 90,835 (76 %).
- After removal, 79.6 % of the remaining valid responses supported the disposable-vape ban (researchers at the University of Edinburgh).
The study, published in *Tobacco Control* by Dr Nason Maani (University of Edinburgh) and Prof Anna Gilmore (University of Bath), describes the episode as the first documented large-scale, AI-driven attempt to manipulate a UK health-policy consultation.
04
Official Reactions and Concerns
Azzurra Moores, associate director for information ecosystems at the think-tank Demos, called the attempt “pretty alarming,” noting that any interference threatens the credibility of public consultations.
05
Verbatim Quote
“This is a problem without easy answers. Every barrier that keeps bots out also makes it harder for real people to take part, and AI makes fake responses far harder to spot. Interference can adapt faster than departments can update their checks. Better screening and more transparency will help, but there’s no single fix.” — The DHSC