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'Profoundly disturbing': Experts warn TikTok's new Bold Glamour filter could cause mental health problems

The Bold Glamour filter retouches the user's face, adding thick eye makeup, bigger lips, more defined cheekbones, and smoother skin

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: A TikTok filter that promises a perfect complexion without any technical issues is being warned by experts as "threaten[ing] the mental health]" of users. The new "Bold Glamour" filter for the site, which was introduced last month and has already been used over 15 million times, has left users in a frenzy.

The effect enables the person to look like a heavy layer of makeup has been put on their face and irons out any skin spots. The "Bold Glamour" filter has been applied in millions of videos already. It retouches the user's face, adding thick eye makeup, bigger lips, more defined cheekbones, and smoother skin.

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'Profoundly disturbing'

Professionals are now warning that the filter is "profoundly disturbing" and that it could negatively affect people's lives. "Young people in particular are under enormous pressure to look a certain way. The solution definitely doesn't lie in encouraging them to change their image," Lucy Thorpe, head of policy at the Mental Health Foundation, told The Times. "We need to create a culture that values people for who they are and not how they look."

In 2021, 57% of young girls in the United States, or roughly three out of five, reported feeling continuously depressed or hopeless. This figure is more than double that of boys and has increased by nearly 60% since 2011, as reported by CDC.

Moreover, lawmakers have voiced their concerns over the filter. British politician Dr Luke Evans shared a video on the site in which he stated, "We need to talk about this filter." He told The Times, "I’ve seen clips of people applying it [the filter] and saying it sets an unrealistic standard they can’t meet and that it can’t be good for anyone’s mental state… it’s hard to argue against this," DailyMail reported.

'I look ugly when I take this filter off'

Meanwhile, TikTok user Joanna Kenny, from the Lake District, shared a video using the filter. She said in the video, "I don't look anything like this, but the filter itself looks natural. I actually look ugly when I take this filter off. I've done a lot of work to unlearn that I owe prettiness to anyone." She adds, "I don't think my brain knows how to deal with looking like this one minute and then this the next."

Many users shared their personal experiences with the filter in the comments. One of them wrote, "When I use this filter, I don’t even look like a person. I literally look like a cartoon." Another shared, "What i find most insane about this filter is that it literally adapts to peoples faces. it looks completely different on everyone I've seen it on." A third stated, "Love the body neutral approach you’re promoting! This filter is wild and scary." 

This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.