TikTok has done it again – the social media platform is at the centre of yet another controversy, as a concerning trend goes viral.
A so-called “chubby filter” is getting more and more exposure on the platform, with videos clocking up millions of views.
It edits a person’s appearance to make it look as if they’ve put on weight. The clips typically show a slim person in an original photo that then transitions into the digitally altered version.
A twin version of the “chubby filter”, the “skinny filter”, offers the reverse and is also racking up the views. It is, however, proving less controversial.
Many using the fat filter joke it motivates them to head to the gym or declare they’ve “burst out laughing” at the results. But not everyone finds it so amusing and harmless, with some experts lambasting it as dangerous.
In just one concerning development, some accounts have used the filter on people who haven’t consented. Content creator Becki Jones reportedly left TikTok last weekend after being targeted and suffering relentless bullying about her weight.
One video posted by Stella’s Solo Adventures, summed up the criticism.
“Just my real-life body that you’re taking the mick out of there, girl. It’s giving mean girl energy. A reminder that I live in this body, it’s my home and it’s thanks to trends like this that I want to cover it up,” it was captioned.
Source: TikTok
Her video had more than two million viewers by Thursday afternoon (AEDT).
Other clips showed users adding captions such as “still look good though” and “shouldn’t have got that takeaway last night”.
One creator suggested the trend should be protected “at all costs” while another said: “It’s a joke. A harmless filter.”
Sydney writer Bec Shaw was among those to disagree. She wrote a column for The Guardian this week arguing that fat phobia was spiralling out of control – and then saw the Tiktok videos.
“There’s an amaaazing new trend on TikTok where skinny girls use a filter to become ‘chubby’ and laugh, laugh at the results and everyone else laughs and it’s sooooooo funny and we definitely aren’t spiralling back down to pro ana (pro-anorexia) death to fats era that damages every young woman,” she wrote on X.
“I found out about this trend TODAY. For f—ing example. It’s sad to get to this point of argument but I implore you to do the connecting between how you speak about fat people and how your skinny daughter gets a f—ing eating disorder.”
British journalist Chloe Law was also critical.
“These tools reinforce and perpetuate harmful ideals. They shape how people see themselves, how they see others, and what they consider acceptable or desirable,” she wrote in Grazia UK.
“Let’s be clear, body shaming isn’t about ‘health’, no matter how often that excuse is wheeled out. If health were the real concern, we’d be talking about the barriers fat people face in accessing quality healthcare. We’d be talking about eating disorders, which affect people of all sizes. We’d be talking about the physical and psychological toll of chronic dieting. But we’re not. Because it’s never been about health.”
Back in Australia, Perth psychologist and eating disorder clinician Sherry-Lee Smith said the trend “goes against everything we have been working towards as an industry to try to promote body positivity”.
“It reinforces fat phobia and I would also consider it fat shaming,” she told The West.
“This trend has the potential to contribute to people internalising negative thoughts and feelings about themselves and their bodies that may later develop into eating disorders or body dysmorphia.”
Smith said young people on social media who were struggling with body image should curate their accounts so they were fed content “that is likely to actually benefit your wellbeing long term”.
