Tik Tok blocks beauty filters for teenagers due to mental health problems

By Alimat Aliyeva

Teenagers will face new restrictions on the use of beauty filters in TikTok, following growing concerns about rising anxiety and decreasing self-esteem, Azernews reports.

Starting in the coming weeks, users under the age of 18 will be prohibited from using filters that artificially enlarge their eyes, tighten their lips, or alter skin tone. These changes will affect filters like Bold Glamour, which can dramatically distort facial features in ways that regular makeup cannot. However, the ban will not apply to filters that add playful elements, such as rabbit ears or dog noses.

TikTok, which boasts a billion users globally, announced the new restrictions during a safety forum held at its European headquarters in Dublin. The platform's decision to implement these measures will depend on whether users adhere to their real age profiles, though age misrepresentation is common.

Experts have raised concerns that beauty filters may cause young users, especially girls, to develop unrealistic expectations about their appearance. Some teenagers have reported feeling disillusioned with their real faces after using filters, which can negatively affect their emotional well-being.

Earlier this month, TikTok also revealed plans to tighten its system for blocking users under the age of 13. By the end of the year, the platform will begin testing machine learning algorithms designed to identify and block users who deliberately bypass age restrictions.

Chloe Setter, TikTok’s head of public policy for child safety, stated, "We hope this will enable us to detect and remove age-cheating accounts more effectively and quickly."

Users who are mistakenly blocked will have the opportunity to appeal. "Obviously, this may frustrate some young people," Setter acknowledged, but emphasized that the platform's priority would remain on safety.