Millions of British teenagers will soon face a ban on using ‘beauty filters’ on the social media platform TikTok.
The Chinese company announced the changes, set to come into effect in the coming weeks, at a safety forum at its European headquarters in Dublin, Ireland this week.
It will see under-18s on the platform unable to use popular beauty filters that alter aspects of their physical appearance, such as lip size and skin tone, in videos shared with others on the app.
Experts have long voiced concerns that docted images on such apps could be driving body dissatisfaction among young people due to the promotion of ‘unrealistic’ beauty standards.
Last year, an Australian study found that watching just 90 seconds of ‘unrealistic’ bodies on social media was enough to negatively affect womens’ mental health.
Meanwhile, there have been multiple reports of young people describing their real faces as ‘ugly’ after using TikTok and Instagram, with some becoming unable to even look in the mirror.
However, TikTok bosses have previously denied that the platform’s features encourages a ‘stereotypical sense of beauty’.
Now, the billion-user social media company is taking a ‘safety-first approach’, according to Chloe Setter, TikTok’s lead on child safety public policy.
Millions of British children will soon face a ban on using ‘beauty filters’ on the social media website TikTok over fears they are harming their self-esteem. Stock image
However, the new restrictions will only apply to under-18s.
TikTok said it is also planning an audit of accounts they suspect are being used by under 13s — the minimum age the company sets for users to create an account.
If effective, this could lead to millions of children being thrown off the social media platform.
The UK Government’s Information Commissioner’s Office has previously estimated that there could be as many 1.4million under-age Brits with a TikTok account.
Speaking at the company’s event in Dublin, Setter, said: ‘We’re hoping that this will give us the ability to detect and remove more and more [filtered posts] quickly.’
The charity GirlGuiding previously warned that almost half of girls aged 11 to 21 regularly use such beauty filters to make themselves look ‘better’ online.
A similar proportion reported this year that they wished their real face matched their online filtered look, up from two fifths four years ago.
TikTok said it would also be changing its age verification systems including an audit of accounts they suspect are being used by under 13s the minimum age the company sets for people to create an account
Beauty filters have previously come under fire for affecting not only the self-esteem of children but young adults.
Beauty filters, which are also found on apps like Snapchat and Instagram, have been blamed for driving a spike in cosmetic injections among young people as they seek to alter their real face to better match what the filter shows.
A report by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons reported a 28 per cent rise in 20-somethings seeking Botox between 2010 and 2017, with a 32 per cent rise in fillers in the same group.
More recent British research has also suggested that nearly half of Brits in their teens and early 20s won’t upload a selfie without using a filter.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .
