Expectation vs. Reality in a Comparison Culture

Mental health fueling proposed U.K. law to require users to declare digitally altered photos

By Katie Clark

The average person sees 5,000 images a day. Even though many of us are aware that images are edited, after absorbing so many images, it can become difficult to distinguish which ones are altered and easy to begin comparing ourselves to impossible standards. As social media becomes a channel for advertising and influencers, regulations of sponsored content have appeared as well. With such content, research has proven that mental health and body image, specifically for women, have been negatively impacted. 

A recently proposed law in the U.K. would require advertisers and anyone posting sponsored content to distinguish that an image subject’s body has been digitally altered. This would not include filters, but it would specifically target images where a person has been airbrushed, photoshopped, or retouched. This law would not target individual users, but it would hold large companies and accounts with large followings accountable—a step in the right direction since so many people are viewing their posts and replicating them. While this proposed law may sound unrealistic, France passed a similar law in 2017 due to high rates of eating disorders, with a hefty price tag of $44,000 for companies that failed to comply.

If accounts with large followings labeled that their photos were digitally altered, it would raise awareness to users that such an image is not actually possible. Social media creates large amounts of revenue for brands, and with this revenue should come increased regulation. These images are specifically dangerous for adolescents who are socially developing and most present online. They can impact mental health and have been linked to increases in eating disorders. While the proposed legislation would not solve these issues, it would be a push in the right direction to eliminate the false idea that a perfect body exists.