TikTok restricts beauty filters for teenagers

TikTok will restrict teenage users' access to beauty filters that alter their facial features. In the coming weeks, people under the age of 18 will be prevented from using the platform's special effects to enlarge their eyes, enlarge their lips or soften and change their skin tone.

Filters and effects designed to be funny, such as those that add dog ears or distort physical features, will not be affected by the measure. Those who promote beauty standards, such as “Beauty Glamour”, will be deactivated from teenagers’ accounts.

The popularization of “beautifying” filters on social networks has increased the demand for plastic surgery and has become yet another negative factor for female self-esteem, weighing even more heavily on young people. The change will be implemented gradually over the next few weeks.

One internal search carried out by TikTok with the English foundation Internet Matters concluded that these effects “contribute to a distorted view of the world”. The report found that teenagers face “significant social pressures” about their appearance, with filters having a devastating impact on self-esteem and increasing the risk of mental health problems.

The study showed that children were often unable to distinguish between an altered image and an unaltered one, as current hyperrealistic filters modify faces pixel by pixel, rather than using traditional facial meshes applied to a 2D screen. In response, TikTok said it will add more labels and information about how each effect changes appearance.

In Brazil, data from the TIC Kids 2022 survey shows that the network is the most used by children under 13 years of age. Almost 50% of Brazilian children aged 11 and 12 point to the application as the most used platform in their daily lives.

Data collected by the organization Girlguiding shows that 54% of girls aged 11 to 21 wanted to look more like the images that filters show on social media.

AUSTRALIA BAN NETWORKS FOR TEENAGERS

TikTok's decision is part of an effort to mitigate the impact of social media on young people's mental health. In Australia, a law passed last week prohibits children under 16 from having accounts on social media such as TikTok, Snapchat, X / Twitter and Instagram.

In addition to the announcement about the filters, TikTok also stated that it will reinforce technology systems to prevent children under 13 from entering the platform.

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