TikTok has removed a controversial filter that made users look overweight.
The so-called “chubby” AI filter starts with an unedited photo, usually slim, and then it showly shows the user’s physique growing larger while the song “Anxiety,” by Grammy award-winning singer and rapper, Doechii plays.
The videos have sparked backlash with people concerned about them sending a body-shaming message.
TikToker Sadie Bass, who hails from the United Kingdom, was one of the users who slammed the filter.
“Imagine you’re just trying to exist on this app and you see thousands of people using an AI filter to have a body that looks like your body, shaming it and all the comments being like ‘ugh, imagine. Ha ha ha.’ A lot of people can imagine because that is their bod,” she said in her video explaining how the average size of a woman in the UK is a 14 and 16.
In a statement to the BBC, TikTok said the filter was uploaded by the company CapCut and it has since been taken down along with the hashtags saying “chubby filter” on the platform. CapCut is separate from TikTok, but the two share the same parent company, which is ByteDance.
When KTLA 5 checked the app for the hashtag on Monday afternoon, results still came in. However, there was a disclaimer that read, “You are more than your weight.”
“If you or someone you know has questions about body image, food, or exercise — it is important to know that help is out there and you are not alone,” the platform explained. “If you feel comfortable, you can confide in someone you trust or check out the resources below. Please remember to take care of yourselves and each other.”
TikTok also pointed users to their Safety Center resource page and/or a “local service provider for support, information and treatment options.”
