Snapchat removes Māori face tattoo filters after outcry in New Zealand – The Guardian

The social media company that owns Snapchat has removed filters that applied images of sacred Māori tattoos to users’ faces, after the discovery of the culturally offensive filters on social media apps provoked an outcry in New Zealand.An investigation by Radio New Zealand revealed filters featuring tā moko tattoos have proliferated on social media apps such as Instagram and Snapchat.Tā moko represent the Māori genealogy of the wearer, and are a taonga, or treasure, for New Zealand’s Indigenous people.The filters prompted renewed questions about the treatment of sacred cultural artefacts on tech platforms, and debate about whether they should receive bolstered legal protections in New Zealand.The Guardian viewed at least 10 such filters on Instagram at the time of publication, all with names that included “Māori” or “moko”, that were created by users of the platform. Meta, which owns Instagram, did not respond to a request for comment.Snap, which owns Snapchat, told the Guardian it had removed one such filter – called a Lens – from its platform, along with a duplicate, after a New Zealand-based reporter raised concerns from the Māori community about the tools.“We encourage our community to create Lenses that are inclusive and any shared on Snapchat…
Read More