Some governments start to interveneEveryone has pores, pimples or skin impurities. These alleged defects are extremely common. Less so on social media, where influencers appear to users with perfect hair, flawless skin and sparkling teeth.
The face filter market is booming, and what the apps can do has become more and more sophisticated in recent years. Everything is possible: from small corrections, such as smoother skin and thicker eyebrows, to the complete alteration of the facial structure.
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Artificial intelligence for artificial beauty
Israeli company Lightricks’ FaceTune app has more than 200 million downloads, and competitors like Taiwan’s YouCam Makeup and Singapore’s BeautyPlus have more than 100 million downloads each.
A few years ago, only photographs could be enhanced. Today, it is possible to change the appearance in such a sophisticated and comprehensive way in videos that the image processing is almost imperceptible.
In early March, two new filters on TikTok caused an uproar. With the help of artificial intelligence, the Teenage Look filter makes people look younger, and Bold Glamor transforms the face according to idealized beauty standards, with bigger lips, brighter eyes, thinner nose and flawless skin .
With previous versions of these filters, changes were revealed by glitches that occurred when people quickly moved their heads or waved a hand in front of their face. But apparently the newer filters are failsafe.
Filters also enforce an ideal of uniform beauty, in which black skin is generally lightened, white skin appears pinker, and prominent noses are narrowed.
“This aesthetic appeal is definitely problematic because many stereotypes are condensed in the filters,” says Katja Gunkel, professor of cultural studies at Goethe University in Frankfurt, specializing in digital culture and consumer aesthetics.
Gunkel adds that while the technology in filters is new, clichés about the various roles it performs are outdated: “There are many highly problematic filters available to everyone and, of course, there is also enormous pressure to comply with this process. ”.
depression and dysmorphia
Apps can also lead users to serious psychological consequences. According to a study by the British non-governmental organization YMCA, two thirds of young people feel pressured by beauty standards on social networks. Another survey, carried out by the youth organization Girlguiding, in the United Kingdom, points out that about a third of all girls between 11 and 21 years old would not publish another photo without editing.
“It’s a devilish game. As soon as we appear publicly with filters, we receive positive feedback through likes. we feel accepted [na sociedade]and the dopamine flows,” says German YouTuber Silvi Carlsson, who takes action against beauty filters in her videos.
But what happens, Carlsson asks, when people, without filters, walk alongside their fellow man, revealing pimples, pigmentation spots or dark circles?
“We are trained by social media to present a perfect self to the outside world. It breaks us down,” she argues.
legislative intervention
In response to this type of behavior, some countries have already adopted legislative measures to regulate the use of filters. In Norway and Israel, manipulated photos must be labeled when used for advertising purposes on social media. In France, a bill aims to enact similar regulations for photos and videos, with influencers subject to fines of up to €300,000 ($300,000) or six months in prison. Such regulations are also already being discussed in the UK.
In Germany, so far, there is no law on the subject. Last year, Carlsson started a petition to change that, and the Conference of Ministers for Gender Equality and Women’s Causes, chaired by Green Party senator Katharina Fegebank, also called for mandatory classification of retouched images in advertising and on social media. . But legislation has yet to be proposed at the federal level.
Goethe University professor Katja Gunkel says she would be in favor of regulation, but makes a clear distinction between public and private use: “We are only talking about the commercial sector here. It would not be possible to use [a legislação] for selfies in the private sphere. How is this supposed to work? Who will control it? I would call it censorship.”
Instead, she adds, children and young people need to be educated from an early age to strengthen their skills in different media.
“We live in a capitalist society, and capitalism works incredibly well to give people the feeling that they need to keep optimizing themselves. AND [também] link this to the consumption of certain products or services, such as medical interventions. After all, all this machinery thrives on a sense of absence that is never fully met, and so consumption goes on. Therefore, the task can only be one: how can users acquire a certain resilience and confidence when dealing with these images?”
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