TikTok is launching BIG change to protect young people from self-esteem issues

Millions of British teenagers will soon face a ban on using ‘beauty filters’ on social media platform TikTok.

The Chinese company announced the changes, which will come into effect in the coming weeks, this week at a security forum at its European headquarters in Dublin, Ireland.

It will ensure that under-18s on the platform cannot use popular beauty filters that alter aspects of their physical appearance, such as lip size and skin tone, in videos shared with others on the app.

Experts have long raised concerns that doctored images on such apps could fuel body dissatisfaction among young people due to the promotion of “unrealistic” beauty standards.

Last year, an Australian study found that looking at just 90 seconds of ‘unrealistic’ bodies on social media was enough to negatively impact women’s mental health.

Meanwhile, there have been several reports of young people describing their real faces as ‘ugly’ after using TikTok and Instagram, with some unable to even look in the mirror.

However, TikTok bosses have previously denied that the platform’s features promote a “stereotypical sense of beauty.”

Now the billion-user social media company is taking a “safety-first approach,” according to Chloe Setter, TikTok’s child safety policy lead.

Millions of British children will soon face a ban on using ‘beauty filters’ on social media website TikTok amid fears they are damaging their self-esteem. Stock image

However, the new restrictions will only apply to those under the age of 18.

TikTok said it is also planning an audit of accounts it suspects are being used by young people under the age of 13 — the minimum age the company sets for users to create an account.

If effective, this could lead to millions of children being kicked off the social media platform.

The UK government’s Information Commissioner’s Office has previously estimated that there could be as many as 1.4 million underage Britons with a TikTok account.

Speaking at the company’s event in Dublin, Setter said: ‘We hope this will give us the opportunity to do more and more [filtered posts] quickly.’

The charity GirlGuiding previously warned that almost half of girls aged 11 to 21 regularly use such beauty filters to make themselves look ‘better’ online.

A similar percentage reported this year that they wished their real face matched their online filtered appearance, up from two-fifths four years ago.

TikTok said it would also change its age verification systems, including an audit of accounts they suspect are used by those under 13, the minimum age the company sets for people to create an account.

Beauty filters have previously come under fire for damaging the self-esteem not only of children, but also of young adults.

Beauty filters, which can also be found on apps like Snapchat and Instagram, have been blamed for causing a spike in cosmetic injections among young people as they attempt to alter their real faces to better match what the filter shows.

A report from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons reported a 28 percent increase in the number of twenty-somethings seeking Botox between 2010 and 2017, while fillers in the same group rose 32 percent.

More recent British research has also suggested that almost half of Brits in their teens and early twenties will not upload a selfie without using a filter.