The World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control aims to control tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship across varied media and communication platforms. In its approach to internet content, the Framework Convention offers a useful case study of internet regulation and unveils the WHO as an emerging source of international policy on internet content. This article outlines key aspects of the Framework Convention, and highlights its method for articulating agreement about internet content control and the way in which it underscores the central role of intermediaries in such control. With regard to agreement, The Framework Convention’s method is not to seek harmonisation of national laws alone. Rather, it uses a set of agreed national obligations about controlling internet content, while making allowances for national constitutional variations — variations which may temper the implementation of the obligations. This approach, which is coupled with a focus on domestic intermediaries such as internet service providers, offers a potential response to the challenging problems surrounding international enforcement of internet content regulation. It is a response which will be tested as the obligations under the Framework Convention are implemented in domestic law.
