Snapchat apparently spent all of five seconds thinking about the appropriateness of releasing a "Bob Marley" filter for April 20 — the cannabis "holiday" known as 420 — and now the company is facing backlash with users calling the filter both racist and offensive.
The filter darkens users' faces, adds dreadlocks, and pops a Bob Marley cap onto pictures. Mashable reports that many have called the filter out for being the equivalent of "digital blackfacing," with users claiming the filter is reminiscent of the racist 19th century act of a white person theatrically darkening their face to appear black.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Today's political cartoons - April 20, 2024Cartoons Saturday's cartoons - papal ideas, high-powered debates, and more
-
5 sleeper hit cartoons about Trump's struggles to stay awake in courtCartoons Artists take on courtroom tranquility, war on wokeness, and more
-
The true story of Feud: Capote vs. The SwansIn depth The writer's fall from grace with his high-flying socialite friends in 1960s Manhattan is captured in a new Disney+ series
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescueSpeed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
-
Gaza hospital blast: What the video evidence shows about who's to blameSpeed Read Nobody wants to take responsibility for the deadly explosion in the courtyard of Gaza's al-Ahli Hospital. Roll the tape.
-
Giraffe poo seized after woman wanted to use it to make a necklaceTall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
-
Helicopter sound arouses crocodilesTall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
-
Woman sues Disney over 'injurious wedgie'Tall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
-
Emotional support alligator turned away from baseball stadiumTall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
-
Europe's oldest shoes found in Spanish cavesTall Tales And other stories from the stranger side of life
-
Artworks stolen by Nazis returned to heirs of cabaret performerIt wasn't all bad Good news stories from the past seven days
