Petition Government to intervene to stop Phillip Morris International gaining access to Stirling University’s Teenage Smoking Research & similar FOI requests

Research conducted into Teenage Smoking habits has been the subject of a Freedom of Information request by Phillip Morris International, the largest tobacco company in the world. It is obscene to think that such data could be divulged to a company in these circumstances. The Freedom of Information Act should be amended to protect university research from being misappropriated by large corporations / companies who stand to benefit financially from the findings. It is vital to maintain public trust to ensure participation in future studies. If this goes unchallenged, then all academic research could be under threat in the UK and make any study the focus of corporate interference or smearing. Public money used to fund vital research should not be used to benefit large companies in this manner.