Study finds 90,835 of 118,756 UK vape consultation responses were bots

Researchers report that 90,835 of the 118,756 responses to the UK government’s 2023 tobacco and vaping consultation were machine-generated, and that nearly all of them opposed restricting disposable vape sales.

The finding comes from a study in the journal Tobacco Control by health policy researchers at the University of Edinburgh and the University of Bath, reported by The Guardian and Tobacco Reporter in October 2026. The underlying document is that study, drawing on the Department of Health and Social Care’s review of submissions to its “smoke free generation” consultation.

DHSC filtered the responses before using them

The Department of Health and Social Care applied bot-detection methods to the submissions and set aside the 90,835 automated entries when reaching its decision, according to The Guardian. The department said the submissions were often duplicated many times and sent at high frequency from a small number of IP addresses.

All but two of the automated responses answered the same consultation question and opposed the plan to ban disposable vapes, The Guardian reports. A bot, in this context, is software that submits responses automatically instead of a person completing a form.

Support for the restrictions flips once bots are removed

With the automated entries excluded, 79.6% of valid respondents supported the proposed restrictions, according to the researchers. The raw total of 118,756 submissions therefore overstates opposition, because the machine-generated block dominates the count.

The Guardian states the automated share as 76% of the 118,756 total. It does not give a more precise figure, and neither source in this file sets out the rounding behind that number.

Researchers cannot name the organiser

The researchers linked the volume and consistency of the submissions to a coordinated campaign, but they did not establish who organised it or what its precise objective was. They described the episode as the first documented instance of large-scale automated interference in a formal UK public health policy consultation.

Nason Maani of the University of Edinburgh told The Guardian that the risk lies in future campaigns becoming harder to detect. Caroline Cerny, deputy chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health, called for safeguards against technology being used to manipulate public consultations, citing the tobacco industry’s history of opposing public health regulation.

The bill became law despite the submissions

The consultation ran under Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government in 2023. A Labour government under Keir Starmer inherited the tobacco and vapes bill in 2024 and passed it into law, including the ban on businesses selling or supplying disposable vapes, according to The Guardian. Neither source in this file gives the date the ban took effect.

Who is affected by the finding

UK officials who run consultations now have a documented case of automated submissions skewing a raw response count on vape policy. Companies and associations that respond to such consultations face more scrutiny of whether their submissions reflect genuine respondents, although no source here suggests any company was involved.

The researchers and public health groups quoted are the immediate audience for the methodological point: the consultation’s headline totals cannot be read without the filter the department applied. Retailers and manufacturers trading in disposable vapes sit on the other side of the restriction the automated responses opposed.

The two reports differ in emphasis, not in numbers

Tobacco Reporter leads with the 90,835 figure and the 79.6% support level; The Guardian frames the episode as a failed attempt to stop the ban and adds detail on IP addresses, the two dissenting automated responses and comments from Maani. Both describe the same study by the same two universities, and neither contradicts the other’s figures.

One point stays open: the researchers say the organisers and their aim remain unidentified, so no source in this file attributes the campaign to a named industry or group.

Questions readers ask

How many responses to the UK tobacco and vaping consultation were fake?

The Department of Health and Social Care identified 90,835 of the 118,756 responses to its 2023 consultation as machine-generated, according to a study in Tobacco Control reported in October 2026. The Guardian puts that at 76% of the total. The department set those entries aside when reaching its decision.

What did valid respondents say about the disposable vape ban?

After the automated submissions were excluded, 79.6% of valid respondents supported the proposed restrictions, the researchers from the University of Edinburgh and the University of Bath found. All but two of the 90,835 automated responses opposed the restrictions, according to The Guardian.

Did the consultation stop the UK disposable vape ban?

No. The Guardian reports that a Labour government under Keir Starmer inherited the tobacco and vapes bill in 2024 and passed it into law, including the ban on businesses selling or supplying disposable vapes. Neither source in this file states the date the ban took effect.

Who organised the automated consultation responses?

The researchers said they could not establish who organised the campaign or its precise objective. They described the volume and consistency of the submissions as pointing to a coordinated effort, and called the episode the first documented large-scale automated interference in a formal UK public health policy consultation.