Though people are more and more familiar with body acceptance, social media sites perpetuate impossible beauty standards. Criticism of TikTok flared up lately when it changed users’ appearances using the viral “chubby filter” to make them seem heavier. The platform removed the filter after much public pushback over worries about its effect on mental health and body image.
What was TikTok’s ‘Chubby Filter’?
On TikTok, a viral trend urged people to change their looks with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. Many comparative side-by-side images of their faces before and after application of the chubby filter abound. Captions like “oh no” and “if this does not inspire me to go to the gym, I have no idea will” were prevalent. Some people even said the filter helped them “scare” themselves into keeping their present weight.
Conversely, individuals who have larger frames and used the slimming tool of the filter said it inspired them to lose weight.
Critiques as well as public backlash
On social media, strong opposition arose from the introduction of the “chubby filter.” Critics noted that the filter supported fatphobia and promoted wrong attitude to body, food, and fitness. Experts also cautioned that these filters help to normalize unattainable standards of beauty.
A food and nutrition scientist, Dr. Emma Becket, said the filter was a significant backward movement in the battle against weight stigma. She told BBC, “It’s just the same old untrue stereotypes and clichés about people in bigger bodies being lazy and flawed, therefore to be seriously avoided.”
Dr. Beckett warned additionally that the artificial intelligence-produced filter could have a major societal effect. She said, “The fear of gaining weight feeds poisonous diet culture, makes people adopt unhealthy obsessions with food and exercise, therefore worsens eating disorders and body dissatisfaction, and opens them to fad diets and fraudulent products.”
At the same time, clinical psychologist Dr. Emphasizing that the filter not only exaggerated weight gain but also mocked people with bigger bodies, Simon Wilksch told Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) it was “offensive and disturbing.” Another thing he stated: it might deeply upset many individuals.
Public disgust of fat-shaming
Users, authors, and activists alike panned the filter. Author Rebecca Shaw turned to X (formerly Twitter) to criticize the trend, sarcastically saying, “There is an amaaazing new trend on TikTok where slim girls use a filter to become ‘chubby’ and laugh at the outcomes and everyone else laughs and it is soooo funny and we certainly aren’t spiraling back down to pro-ana, death-to-fats era that damages every young woman.”
Similarly, TikTok user Emma told BBC the filter was disappointed. For a curvier woman who more or less resembles the ‘after’ picture on this filter, people were more or less telling they appeared repulsive because they were ‘chubby,’ so it was rather disappointing for me.
Fat activist Demi Lynch also slammed the AI filter and said it further propagated the prejudice that being underweight is unwanted. She informed ABC News, “I feel like it helps to support the idea that being overweight is a negative thing and therefore something we should be ashamed of; it is something we must dread.”
She also lamented the filter that turned body size into a joke. I just despise that it became this notion that being fat is a laughing matter and what is sad is that the people who were producing these filtered versions of themselves have bodies that really resemble those filtered versions of themselves millions of people all around the world have.
TikTok would get rid of the AI Filter.
TikTok took off the disputed “chubby filter” from its site after the reaction. The filter was first developed by CapCut, a video editing software owned by ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company.
A spokesperson for TikTok Australia informed ABC News: “The AI filter is not access through our app, but they were uploaded to TikTok after they were created on another video editing program [CapCut].”
TikTok told CNET as well that CapCut had dropped the filter template. Notwithstanding this effort, Mashable news showed that different names—such as “chunky filter”—still made similar variations of the filter available.
Tiktuk showed a warning when consumers searched for the AI filter: “You are more than your weight. Knowing that help is available and that you are not by yourself is vital if you or someone you know has issues with body image, food, or exercise. You can ask a trusted friend for help or investigate the resources above if you need to. Remember to look after yourself and others.”
In addition to deleting videos using the AI filter, TikTok told BBC it was actively assessing them.
The Deleterious Effect of Beautycing Filters
Allowing users to change their image for enjoyment, filters have become a fundamental component of social media. Apart from changing faces and adding fun animal ears, AI-generated filters are very popular in entertainment applications. Filters changing body size or facial features, though, could have negative effects on mental and especially on young people.
Research suggest that social media has a negative effect on body image, with artificial intelligence filters fueling unrealistic ideals of beauty.
In a 2023 Psychology Today essay, Tara Well, a psychology teacher, said, “Young women are not only comparing their looks to ideal photographs of friends and celebrities but also measuring themselves against their filtered selfies.” This constant comparison can be a source of great suffering and erode one’s positive body image and self-esteem.”
Women alone do not have the problem. With the rise of “gym bro” culture online, young men too are under pressure to fit the idealized body norms. Filters like the “chubby filter” make things worse by encouraging body shaming and reinforcing toxic beauty ideals.
Final consideration: responsible artificial intelligence is needed.
Though TikTok has moved to delete the “chubby filter,” the uproar points to a larger problem in social media—that of how artificial intelligence tools affect self-perception and mental health. Platforms should take charge in guarantee their properties do not worsen destructive body image problems.
Social media firms must be more aware of the psychological effects their technology has on users as discussions on body acceptance go on. The reaction against the “chubby filter” is a reminder that digital tools must promote rather of reduce one’s self-esteem.
