The Snapchat Inc. application (app) is displayed for a photograph. (Photo : Getty Images/Andrew Harrer)
Snapchat has once again offended its users by launching the so-called "yellowface" filter that transformed someone's face to supposedly look like an Anime character but everybody else just called it racist.
The yellowface Anime Snapchat filter was rolled out on Tuesday and it immediately drew flak from users who said that the company has showed its racist side once again. Some users even called the new filter the "most overly racist" ever.
Snapchat has several filters that helps make user's selfies more interesting and fun. One of the recently most popular ones was the filter that turns a user's face into a cute dog.
The company has then removed the yellowface anime Snapchat filter and said that it will not be "put back into circulation," CNET has learned. They have refused to apologize for the mishap and defended that the filter was "anime inspired."
It is not the first time that Snapchat has offended many of its users with a filter. They have released a Bob Marley filter that users called the "blackface" filter because of the color of the skin plus the dreadlocks that were digitally enhanced on the user's selfie.
While Snapchat did not really intend to harm anyone with the yellowface anime filter, people were still angry even after it was already removed. Several people even compared Snapchat to Donald Trump for being racist and immature, Independent reported.
Another issue is that most of the filters meant to "beautify" a user's face are biased towards lighter skin tones. Most of them enhance the skin color of the user to be lighter which has also triggered outrage for some users.
Some users have also posted on social media that they will not be using Snapchat anymore. They are now preferring to use Instagram to share their photos with others or use MSQRD for their filter needs.
Facebook's MSQRD acquisition is slowly proving to be fruitful as it has already slowly rolled out animated filters on the social network app. They are highly similar to what Snapchat offers and the billions of users could eventually beat Snapchat's figures in the following months should Facebook become more aggressive with Instagram and their app.
