Is the End of Beauty IG Filters Near?

Influencers are officially banned from using ‘misleading’ filters

Gone are the days when celebrities were the utmost beauty ideal. Today, filtered selfies are what everyone is carrying into their plastic surgeon’s office. People are seeking out surgery to look like their filtered selves, and it’s a major problem. 

Thankfully, Instagram banned plastic surgery filters back in 2019 in an attempt to fight body dysmorphia and unrealistic beauty ideals. But other equally misleading beauty filters continued to grow in prominence. 

Skin enhancing filters are practically the norm now. But perhaps most damaging is influencers’ use of such filters to falsely exaggerate the effect of skincare and cosmetic products they’re promoting. 

An online campaign was launched in July 2020 to encourage influencers to use the hashtag #filterdrop in their posts to make it clear that they are using a filter in their advertorials. 

But when that didn’t work, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) took matters to their own hands hand. The organization—which regulates the advertising industry in the UK—has deemed this practice misleading and issued new rules to take down such posts, prohibiting them from appearing again. The new regulations currently apply in the UK only, but a worldwide change might just be underway. 

Instagram has yet to address the issue, but considering the platform’s ban on posts promoting weight-loss products, as well as making it mandatory for influencers and brands to label paid ads, it may not be long until the social media platform takes on similar measures.

 

Main image: @sashalouisepallari

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