Instagram is banning any Augmented Reality (AR) filters on the app that promote cosmetic surgery.
Yep, you read that right. All of them.
In August, Instagram allowed its users to create their own filters and post them for public use on the app. Since then, filters that depict how someone looks with plastic surgery have become increasingly popular.
However, it became clearer that these filters cause more harm to Instagram users by making them feel worse about the way they look and impacting their mental health.
I’m not against it.
I’ve been warning against the use of fillers for like 4 years now. It changes how you see yourself. Some people haven’t posted a non-filtered selfie in yearssss.
The body dysmorphia is out of control.https://t.co/YcYeblDygR— Global Esthetician (@LaBeautyologist) October 22, 2019
“We’re re-evaluating our policies – we want our filters to be a positive experience for people,” a spokesman told The Sun.
“While we’re re-evaluating our policies, we will remove all effects from the [effects] gallery associated with plastic surgery, stop further approval of new effects like this and remove current effects if they’re reported to us.”
In particular, now-removed filters like “Fix Me” and “Plastica” became viral on the app with both of them showing the before and after effects of cosmetic surgery.
The filter Plastica shows how a user might look like if they underwent plastic surgery by over-inflating the lips and cheeks.
FixMe depicted the marks that a plastic surgeon would make on someone’s face before cosmetic surgery.
The creater of the filter, Daniel Mooney (@danielmooney), told the BBC that it was never his intention to show a “perfect image”.
“FixMe was only ever supposed to be a critique of plastic surgery, showing how unglamorous the process is with the markings and bruising,” He said.
“I can see where Instagram is coming from, but for as long as some of the most-followed accounts on Instagram are of heavily surgically ‘improved’ people, removing surgery filters won’t really change that much.”
Story filters are not the only ones receiving criticism with apps like Facetune being under the heat too for causing teens to feel bad about their flaws.
In an initiative to make the platform more positive, Instagram is in the process of removing all story filters that promote plastic surgery and banning any new ones that may be designed in the future.
What are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments below.
Image Credit: Shutterstock.