As of January 14, 2025, Meta will discontinue the Meta Spark platform, previously used by developers outside the company to create beauty filters based on augmented reality.
Instagram ditches beauty filters PHOTO: Instagram
The Meta company explained this decision through a press release: “QAfter a thorough evaluation, we have made the decision to shut down the Meta Spark platform of third-party tools and content, effective Tuesday, January 14, 2025. This means that augmented reality effects made by third parties, including brands, and our community no longer wide range of AR creators will no longer be available as of this date. Meta’s own AR effects will continue to be available to our users across our family of apps.”
According to rumors from specialists in this field, rather than an attempt to protect young people from the dangers of unnatural and difficult to achieve beauty standards, Meta’s decision would be the result of innovations that the company launched on the market in the last Monday, according to antena3.ro.
In all this ethically correct discussion, if we think about how filters can influence the view of the self, especially on the new generations, there is still a kind of free zone.
Because even though third-party AR filters will disappear from social media, Meta will continue to offer its own effects, whether they’re in Augmented Reality or not. In the category of filters that will continue to be present in the application in the future, there will also be those used for color correction.
“We are deeply grateful to the community of creators, companies and other key stakeholders who have been part of the Meta Spark project. When we launched this platform seven years ago, augmented reality experiences were new to most consumers. Since then, imagination, innovation and the creativity of our community of AR creators have helped expand the reach of AR to hundreds of millions of people on Meta platforms,” it is also shown in the communiqué.
