Last Wednesday, Meta—the tech giant behind Facebook and Instagram—agreed to pay out roughly $18 billion dollars in a landmark settlement. The federal lawsuit, brought on by 47 states, the District of Columbia, and other U.S. territories, claimed the company knew the risks its platforms posed to minors when it came to social media addiction and their mental health, violating state consumer protection laws and child privacy laws.
Besides the mega payout, which will be made in installments over the next 10 years, Meta has also agreed to make major changes to how minors are able to use its products (anyone aged 13 and older can create a Meta profile), including limiting the use of face-altering beauty filters, which have been found to negatively impact teens psychologically. Compared to other changes—like restricting minor use to two hours per day and giving them the option to have a non-personalized feed—what, exactly, the limits on beauty filters will look like is still a bit fuzzy.
The dangers of social media usage for minors are well-documented and excessive use of appearance-altering filters, especially among young girls, can have a negative impact on mental health, so yes, in theory, banning filters is a great idea. Sera Lavelle, PhD, a clinical psychologist in New York City, says she’s witnessed the negative effects of social media show up in her younger patients. “You see a lot of more people becoming obsessed with perfection and feeling extremely lonely,” she says. “We’ve noticed, even in our own clinical practice, people not even wanting to leave the house if they have a blemish.”
“I don’t think that every teenager who uses a filter will develop a mental health problem but if you’re repeatedly exposed, it can normalize an unattainable standard, and for vulnerable teens it can contribute to body dissatisfaction, body dysmorphia, and anxiety about their appearance,” agrees Suzanne Wallach, LMFT, founder of SoCalL DBT. “They can start to obsess about comparing themselves and about parts of their body, and it can contribute to the belief that the way they appear naturally isn’t good or beautiful enough.”
However, the language in the settlement isn’t explicit about how Meta will decide what “beauty filters” are appropriate for minors to use and how the company will implement regulations to keep them out of the hands of vulnerable teens. All we know, according to the company’s press release about the settlement, is that “extreme makeup filters” will no longer be accessible for the age group. Minors will still be able to use filters that mimic makeup and smoothing effects, Meta says, and that as the measures roll out, what constitutes a bannable filter will come into focus. The impact on teens’ mental health, albeit a positive one, is expected to be minimal, according to the experts Allure spoke with for this story.
“I’d be cautious about expecting a dramatic improvement in mental health just from this, because it’s not just beauty filters causing teens to encounter unrealistic beauty standards,” says Wallach. “Their feeds are still filled with professionally altered photos from celebrities, cosmetic procedures, influencers, super-edited images, makeup transformations, and the highlight reel versions of other people’s lives.” Meta has shown no indication that it will limit the use of these beauty filters for the many adults on its platforms, plus it’s quite easy for anyone of any age to add a filter to an image or video in another app, then upload it to a Meta platform.
Dr. Lavelle agrees. “It sounds like a step in the right direction, but I could imagine it being not as successful as they think it would be,” she says.
