Filters have come a long way from the days when puppy dog ears trended—and that’s not always a good thing.
Enter the ‘chubby filter,’ a form of artificial intelligence (AI) that thousands of TikTokers recently used to see how they would look if they put on weight.
The frighteningly realistic filter warped users’ photos to alter their appearance, provoking shocked reactions and even mockery as individuals breathed sighs of relief thinking, ‘Thank God I don’t look like that.’
Following immense backlash and criticism of how the filter enabled diet culture to thrive, the social media platform, which boasts over 1.5billion users globally, took it down, meaning it is no longer accessible.
TikTok later explained that the filter had been uploaded by CapCut, which, while a separate app, still has the same parent company, ByteDance. CapCut is used by millions of TikTokers to create fun edits and montages. Basically, if you’ve seen a trending template or a cute mashup of clips to a popular song, it probably came from there.
The app also vowed to review videos uploaded using the effect, blocking them from being viewed on teen accounts.
But it still begs the question: why were people using the chubby filter in the first place?
Healthcare expert and pharmacist Thorrun Govind expresses her concern to Metro that those with online profiles are now hyper-aware of how they look.
‘I think people are drawn to these filters because it’s such an easy way of seeing a different version of themselves. They’re intrigued, but I don’t think they’re fully aware of the short or longer-term effects of using them.’
Indeed, we live in a climate where body modification is pretty trendy. From non-invasive cosmetic procedures to fillers, Botox, and whacky gadgets—you name it, someone on TikTok has played around with it.
‘That’s just part of why such filters are dangerous when in the wrong hands, especially when it’s impossible to fully police what young, impressionable people have access to online,’ Thorrun shares.
‘These filters are likely to be particularly harmful for those who have body image concerns and those with eating disorders.’
However, it’s not just people whose brains are already susceptible to such toxic messaging that we must keep an eye on.
‘In general, being bombarded with content constantly showing weight transformations and focusing on size can harm anyone,’ she says.
It’s far from the first time this conversation has been had, nor will it be the last time body-positive influencers speak out against material that subliminally feeds into stereotypes around body image.
In the early 2000s, we had reality shows like Supersize vs Superskinny, and in the 2010s there was pro-anorexia Tumblr, both of which not only normalised and promoted extreme thinness but deeply romanticised it before the eyes of children.
Alas, in the years since, the demonisation of fatness and glorification of emaciation has simply been repurposed and repackaged, now taking a new form on social media.
We’ve all seen the ‘What I Eat in a Day’ videos subtly perpetuating the idea that eating less than 1,200 calories is healthy, right?
On what impact filters like the chubby one can have, Thorrun explains that they can be ‘misused to mock or misrepresent individuals and reinforce harmful stereotypes’.
This can affect how those in different bodies are treated offline, a point only illustrated by the release of Netflix’s latest smash hit drama, Adolescence.
‘In turn, this can lead to harassment or bullying, which then creates mental health consequences for those on the receiving end, such as stress, social anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem,’ she says, as TikTok users see a before and after image and tell themselves, ‘Well, it could be worse, I could look like her…’
‘More broadly, these transformation filters can lead to a disconnect between a person’s real and perceived self. This can increase distress when they see their actual reflection,’ she adds.
In severe cases, this can escalate into body dysmorphic disorder, a debilitating mental health condition where a person spends a lot of time worrying about their appearance, to the extent that it interferes with daily life.
While she emphatically believes it’s appropriate for the chubby filter to be removed, Thorrun agrees that we must be extra vigilant from all sides.
‘It’s not just a case of removing a filter—there is a lot more work to be done when it comes to the stigma of weight management,’ she stresses.
‘On various apps, we are still seeing a huge number of weight loss jabs being advertised illegally, and all of the sites have questions to answer when it comes to body image and what they are allowing us to see.’
Similarly, TikTok lately has been overrun by the use of a ‘skinny’ filter, which, you guessed it, shows users how they would look if they were considerably thinner.
Thorrun fears this can distort people’s perceptions of the reality behind body transformations, implying they are quick and easy to do.
‘But they’re not. These transformations take time and require support. They also need to be done in a healthy manner, and I don’t think these filters represent that in any way.
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‘Such filters are an unrealistic expectation of weight loss, which certainly doesn’t happen in a second, and they promote a “quick fix” response to changing your body and managing your weight when we need to be encouraging people to view weight loss and gain in a sustained manner if that’s what they want.’
She also believes there’s a risk of people using these filters for the wrong reasons and creating ‘fake success stories’ in which they lie about how their goals were met.
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‘It is so dangerous. People need to realise that weight management is a slow approach and it can’t be done overnight.’
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