Instagram Will Be Removing The Beauty Filters
Instagram has announced it will be removing beauty filters – but the damage is done.
Meta has announced third-party augmented reality (AR) filters will no longer be available on its apps as of January 2025. This means more than two million user-made filters offered across WhatsApp, Facebook and, most notably, Instagram will disappear.
Filters have become a mainstay feature on Instagram. The most viral of these – which often involve beautifying the user’s appearance – are created by users themselves via the Meta Spark Studio.
But the use of beautifying AR filters has long been connected to worsened mental health and body image problems in young women.
In theory, the removal of the vast majority of Instagram filters should signal a turning point for unrealistic beauty standards. Howeve...