INSTAGRAM has come under fire over a filter that users have branded anti-Semitic.
“Old School”, which is available in the app’s Effects Gallery, gives the impression that the user is covered in tattoos, the New York Post reports.
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However, one of the dozens of symbols virtually branded onto the user’s skin was a swastika.
After a number of people filed complaints to Instagram, the swastika was removed from the filter.
The Nazi emblem was spotted by Sabrina Zohar, a California clothing designer who tried out the filter in recent a Instagram post.
The 31-year-old said she was left “speechless” after one of her 17,000 followers drew her attention to the hate symbol on her arm.
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“This s**t has to end, not just for Jews but for everyone,” Sabrina wrote to her followers.
“Hitler and then nazis is not a joke or passive topic so let’s stop pretending it’s okay.”
Sabrina reported the filter to Instagram and urged her followers to do the same.
Anyone can submit a filter to be added to the Instagram Effect Gallery.
Each filter is reviewed to ensure it doesn’t violate the app’s guidelines, including support of hate organisations.
A spokesperson for Facebook, which owns Instagram, said that the filter “does not violate our policies.”
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The company said that it does not plan on removing the filter as the imagery “can be used in cultural context that predates Nazism”.
The swastika might today most commonly be associated with the Nazis, but it is historically a religious emblem of peace.
Dating back thousands of years, the icon is used as a symbol of divinity and spirituality in Indian religions, including Hinduism and Buddhism.
According to Anastasia Truita Tkachenko, the Russian creator of the filter, the icon “symbolises good, the sun and life” and is a Slavic symbol.
She told the Post that the symbols arms tilt counter clockwise – a different direction to the Nazi swastika.
However, Sabrina pointed out that the symbol is offensive regardless of its other meanings.
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“I understand what the symbol stands for and the multiple meanings,” Sabrina, who owns her own loungewear brand, told The Post.
“But as someone that is Jewish, it’s hard to be reminded of the symbol that is so in your face.”
After Sophia and her fans reported the filter, it appears that the swastika has been removed.
In a post to her Instagram story on Sunday, the influencer shared a picture of her trying the filter out – and the symbol no longer appears on her arm.
“Y’all we did it!! They changed the symbol,” she wrote to her followers.
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In other news, Instagram is working on adding a “Super Follow” style feature that gets you exclusive photos.
Microsoft has revealed its highly anticipated Windows 11 software.
Instagram is making it easier for you to publicly display your pronouns on your profile.
And, Facebook is facing backlash in the US over plans to create a version of Instagram for children under 13.
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
