2023-05-19 01:31:42
Faces appear more and more retouched on social networks. The market for facial filter programs is booming and they have become increasingly sophisticated to correct small skin imperfections.
The FaceTune application, from the Israeli company Lightricks, has already been downloaded more than 200 million times; while Taiwan’s YouCam Makeup and Singapore’s BeautyPlus each have more than 100 million downloads. Until a few years ago, you could only enhance photos, but now you can make changes to the faces of people filming themselves, in sophisticated ways and with little to no appreciation of image processing.
In early March, two new filters on TikTok caused a stir. With the help of artificial intelligence, the filter Teenage Look it makes people look younger. The filter Bold Glamouron the other hand, turns the face into an ideal image of beauty with fuller lips, more radiant eyesight, a thinner nose and flawless skin.
In the end, the goal is a very homogeneous ideal of beauty: black skin generally lightens a bit, white skin becomes pinker, noses narrow.
“This aesthetic appeal is definitely problematic, because a lot of stereotypes are condensed in the filters,” criticizes Katja Gunkel, a professor of art education at Goethe University in Frankfurt, Germany.
The technology is brand new, but the role clichés are out of date. “There are many very problematic filters available for everyone to use and of course also accompanied by great pressure.”
Depression and self-perception disorders
And this sometimes has serious consequences for the user’s psyche. According to a study by the British YMCA, two-thirds of young people feel pressured by beauty standards on social networks.
According to a survey carried out by the British youth organization Girlguiding, around a third of all girls between the ages of 11 and 21 would no longer post an unedited photo of themselves.
“It’s playing with the devil,” says German YouTuber Silvi Carlsson, who publicly takes a stand against beauty filters in her videos.
“As soon as we go public with filters, we get positive comments in the form of hearts and likes. We feel accepted and release dopamine. But what happens if we go out without a filter but with pimples, pigment spots or dark circles? We are trained through social media to present a perfect self to the outside world,” says Carlsson.
“That destroys us,” he says.
The clinical picture has a name: Snapchat selfi or dysmorphia. As more selfies with filters are used as a norm, the more self-esteem of many people is affected. According to the specialized magazine JAMA Facial Plastic Surgerythe feeling of not being able to meet the demands of these beauty ideals can even trigger depression.
Debate over state regulation
To control this phenomenon, several countries are trying to impose regulations. In Norway and Israel, tagging is already required for photos that have been manipulated with a filter as soon as they are used for advertising on social media. A bill in France provides something similar for photos and videos, and “influencers” can even face penalties of up to 300,000 euros or six months in prison if they violate them. The UK is also debating similar regulations.
So far in Germany there is no federal labeling legislation. Gunkel would definitely be in favor of such a regulation, but “we’re only talking about the commercial sector here. You can’t use that for selfies in the private sector, it would be censorship.”
Children and young people should be informed at an early stage and media skills strengthened. “All this machinery lives on the feeling of lack, which in the best of cases is never satisfied, so consumption continues. Consequently, the task can only be: how can you, as a user, develop a certain level of resilience and independence in the face of these images?
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