Parents are increasingly expressing their concerns over teenage usage of social media platforms and the detrimental impact that early exposure to all kinds of media can have on them. The government is actively working on the issue by taking stringent actions that even consider banning some platforms, such as TikTok, in their respective country. Companies are also aware of the dire need to proactively work towards protecting the younger generation and are playing their role by introducing limits and restrictions to their platforms. TikTok has now decided to put a ban on the use of beauty filters for users under 18.
TikTok is now banning beauty filters for users under 18 in an attempt to protect their mental health
The UK and EU have both introduced legislation in order to force companies to actively work towards protecting young users from harmful content. The Online Safety Act was implemented in October 2024, while the EU’s Digital Service Act came about in 2022, and both are meant to address the impact of certain content and features on user well-being and how to address it.
In response to the legislation, TikTok has announced that it will ban the use of beauty filters for users under the age of 18 in an attempt to mitigate the negative effects of unrealistic beauty standards on teenagers’ mental health and self-esteem. There have been several studies done to evaluate how social media users often end up comparing themselves with the pictures uploaded by others that are either edited or taken through filters, making them feel conscious about their looks and leading to them questioning their self-worth.
The Guardian covered a report a while back that highlighted the findings of a body image expert’s study on the damaging impact of exposure to unattainable beauty standards online can lead to. Dr. Jasmine Fardouly said:
It’s promoting a beauty ideal that’s not attainable for you, it’s not attainable for anyone, really, because nobody looks like that. Everybody’s faces are being made to look the exact same way.
The latest report by The Guardian sheds light on TikTok’s attempts to work on this issue by banning the use of beauty filters for users aged 13 to 17. With emphasis on the following:
Under-18s will, in the coming weeks, be blocked from artificially making their eyes bigger, plumping their lips and smoothing or changing their skin tone. The restrictions will apply to filters – such as “Bold Glamour” – that change children’s features in a way that makeup cannot.
TikTok is also working on discouraging preteens from using the app by working on systems that are able to detect user age, especially in cases when users lie about their age, as under 13 are not allowed on the platform. TikTok’s lead on child safety public policy, Chloe Setter, elaborated on the ongoing efforts:
Before the end of the year, it will launch a trial of new automated systems that use machine learning to detect people cheating its age restrictions. We’re hoping that this will give us the ability to detect and remove more and more quickly.
Whether TikTok is driven to work more aggressively on protecting young children because of the legislation or self-driven to play its role in curbing the harmful impacts, it is an initiative that would be well-received by not just parents but all those who have compromised self-esteem due to the unrealistic beauty filters and the unattainable standards set.
