Meitu, a popular new app that’s taken both Android and iPhone by storm with its cute filters, is being accused of “yellowface” by progressives on social media. Crybullies are warning that white people who use the app’s filters are engaging in casual racism.
Dubbed an “aspirational beauty app,” Meitu alters selfies to create cute portraits inspired by Chinese aesthetics. With one swipe, you can enhance your cheekbones, widen your eyes, and taper your jaw—or produce hilarious photographs of celebrities and politicians, as seen below:
Made in China, the app recently came under fire for being a potential risk to phone security because of its sweeping access to phone information, requiring far more permissions to use compared to similar apps like Instagram and Prism. Security experts discovered that the app had been sending back private information to IP addresses in China, but the company says that the data they collect is solely to optimize its performance and features.
Regardless, outrage mongers aren’t upset with the app over security concerns. Instead, they express an irrational fear that Meitu users may be engaging in “yellowface” for lending Chinese aesthetics to their appearance. Similar complaints of cultural appropriation were leveled at a museum in Boston for allowing visitors to wear Japanese kimonos and even at a Korean model who wore the costume of a Mexican video game character.
The controversy is also reminiscent of one last year in which Snapchat was accused of being “flat-out racist” after it released an Asian art-inspired filter that replaced users’ eyes with narrow lines and chubby cheeks. Snapchat eventually removed the filter amid complaints.
As for Meitu, complainers on Twitter shared their outrage towards Meitu users and the app itself.
Some called it “racist against brown people” for its skin-lightening filters.
Others were outraged over use of the term “kawaii” due to the app’s country of origin.
Meitu is certain to remain at the top of the app charts despite these complaints, which are also sure to grow in number as its popularity blossoms.
Ian Miles Cheong is a journalist and outspoken game critic. You can reach him through social media at @stillgray on Twitter and on Facebook.