Retouched influencer photos may soon come with a warning

If the bill is to be passed, advertisers will be pressed to use a more diverse variety of models, and not to relentlessly push the Barbie doll aesthetic. Ads featuring actors whose bodies have been digitally altered could come with warnings.

Much like video game publishers are obliged to state whether their trailers show ‘actual in-game footage,’ influencers may be legally required to post #ad, #spon, or #paid.

‘If someone has been paid to post a picture on social media which they have edited, or advertisers, broadcasters, or publishers are making money from an edited photograph, they should be honest and upfront about it,’ UK MP, Dr Luke Evans, told the House of Commons last January.

Furthermore, should young people choose to proceed with surgeries (and they no doubt will), it’s proposed that a 48-hour cooling off period be instated so they can weigh up all the implications. It’s hoped that many of those making emotional decisions will reconsider in that time.

Before any procedure takes place, mandatory background checks are also requested for full disclosure on both mental and medical health – as it stands today in the UK, no consultation is even required at many establishments.

Though both sets of stipulations only apply at national level currently, and include just sponsored posts, it is hoped that they can have a wide-reaching impact in curtailing the links between social media and body dysmorphia on a cultural level.

As Dr Evans states: ‘This isn’t about stopping you touching up your wedding photos or removing red eye on a post, it is targeted at those with significant, far-reaching influence and those with commercial intent.’

Hopefully, this will provide the impetus for more countries to begin putting legal frameworks in place. Whether we want to admit it or not, our generation is still obsessed with harmful beauty standards and it cannot stay that way.