Snapchat removed a controversial filter critics dubbed “Yellowface” after outrage spread across social media. The purportedly anime-inspired filter altered Snapchat users’ faces by giving their skin a yellow tone and swapping out their eyes for horizontal lines.
The reaction online was immediate and overwhelmingly negative.
@Snapchat@snapchatsupport idk if u realize, but this filter is yellowface and u should take it down pic.twitter.com/MLSHz0Bbkl
— lia (@limb_light) August 9, 2016
"This anime-inspired lens has already expired and won't be put back into circulation," Snapchat said in an official statement on Wednesday. "Lenses are meant to be playful and never to offend."
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The filter being “anime-inspired” was immediately rejected by many online activists.
This aesthetic is from anti-Asian propaganda, not anime, as Snapchat claims pic.twitter.com/i2qK2iG6sr
— Julia Carrie Wong (@juliacarriew) August 10, 2016
Also, @Snapchat’s “yellowface” filter is more like Mickey Rooney’s character in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” than anime. pic.twitter.com/8PD0IjA2RZ
— Ken Yeung (@thekenyeung) August 10, 2016
For some critics, this new incident fits a longer history of cultural insensitivity and out-right racism in Snapchat’s filters.
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In April, the messaging app released a “Bob Marley” filter that blended the artist’s likeness with the user’s face. Despite the company claiming it was an ode to the famous reggae star and was developed “in partnership with the Bob Marley Estate,” users were quick to call it modern-day “blackface.”
oh god @snapchat you didn’t pic.twitter.com/lBZUHZKODg
— Casey Johnston (@caseyjohnston) April 20, 2016
Snapchats general “beauty” filters have come under fire for promoting European aesthetic values by lightening people’s skin.
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Lol so they try put flowers on top of the face to distract from the fact that it's a skin lightening feature
— Dan Soff [JOKUZA] (@Swagadore) May 8, 2016
😂😂 Snapchat you're not slick
Snapchat is now the third most popular social media network with more than 150 million people using it each day. Those users are demanding respect.
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