Snapchat on Tuesday released a photo filter that quickly drew backlash on social media. The filter in question morphed users’ facial features, specifically their eyes and teeth.
Snapchat had removed the filter by Thursday, but not before weathering a storm of ridicule.
On Twitter, users uploaded photos of themselves with the Snapchat filter enabled, some saying that they resembled East Asian caricatures and that the filter was equivalent to “yellowface.”
In a response to The Verge, Snapchat told the publication that the “lens was inspired by anime, and was meant to be playful.” The filter will not be put back into circulation, according to the website.
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