‘Yellowface’ Snapchat filter featuring slanty eyes and toothy grin is removed after complaints about racist caricature of Asians
SNAPCHAT has been accused of racism after its new filter "yellow face" overlaid faces with an offensive stereotype of Asians - prompting outrage online.
The controversial photo lens, which used cartoon visages featuring slanted eyes, wide cheeks and toothy grins, was quickly removed after making its debut on Tuesday.
The vanishing message app said the lens was meant as a playful take on anime characters and promised it would not return to circulation.
"Snapchat virtualized old-timey yellow face without thinking about how it effects E-Asians," read a Twitter message fired off by one account.
Why would someone ever use a Snapchat filter for yellow face in their snap story? That is so messy.
@byhaneul
"It's disappointing whether it was deliberate or not."
Another added: "I guess @snapchat didn't think Asian people wouldn't speak up about this racist yellow face filter."
Southern California-based Snapchat was hit with similar charges of being racially insensitive earlier this year after releasing a Bob Marley filter that people could use to add graphics of dreadlocks to photos.
The filter which Snapchat said it designed in the spirit of the late reggae star also modified facial features and darkened skin tone.
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Snapchat soared to popularity with messages that disappear shortly after being viewed and has been adding features to better compete with mainstream messaging or photo services such as those run by Facebook or Google.
The number of people using Snapchat in the United States will leap more than 27 percent this year to 58.6 million, meaning that nearly one in five people in the country will be using the service, according to an eMarketer forecast.
Snapchat attracts some of the biggest celebrity names in the world, including Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift, Calvin Harris and the Kardashians.
But this week superstar singer Rihanna was left shocked by her own reflection when she applied a new Snapchat filter that appeared to make her skin paler.
In a video she posted on the messaging app, Rihanna can be seen looking visibly stunned by her appearance as she gasps: “I look white!”
By the year 2020, the ranks of US Snapchat users were expected to swell to 85.5 million, according to the report.
Snapchat estimates it has more than 100 million users globally of the service for sending videos, images and text messages which vanish after being viewed.
Some reports say it generates 10 billion video views per day.
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