The TikTok platform will block users under 18 from accessing beauty filters that artificially enlarge eyes and lips, even out skin tone, or change skin tone. This is due to concerns about increased anxiety and a drop in self-esteem among children.
TikTok representatives announced this at a security forum in Dublin, The Guardian reports.
The restrictions will apply to some filters, such as Bold Glamour, which change children’s facial features in a way that cannot be done with makeup. Comic filters that add rabbit ears or dog noses will not be banned.
There is widespread concern that beauty filters – some provided by the TikTok platform itself, others created by users – have led to pressure on teens, especially girls, to have the perfect appearance. Some teenagers described how they considered their natural faces ugly after using the filters.
TikTok also announced that it would step up efforts to block users under 13. By the end of the year, TikTok will launch trials of systems that use machine learning to identify people who circumvent age restrictions.