Teenagers are facing wide-ranging new restrictions over the use of beauty filters on TikTok amid concern at rising anxiety and falling self-esteem. Un

TikTok to block teenagers from beauty filters over mental health concerns

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2024-11-27 06:30:02

Teenagers are facing wide-ranging new restrictions over the use of beauty filters on TikTok amid concern at rising anxiety and falling self-esteem.

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. Comic filters that add bunny ears or dog noses will be unaffected. The billion-user social media company announced the changes during a safety forum at its European headquarters in Dublin.

The effectiveness of the restrictions will depend on people using the platform under their real age, which is not always the case.

There has been widespread concern that the beauty filters – some provided by TikTok, others created by users – have resulted in a pressure on teenagers, particularly girls, to adopt a polished physical appearance with negative emotional repercussions. Some young people have described how after using filters they found their real face ugly.