Snapchat removes Juneteenth filter that prompted users to smile to break chains

Snapchat apologized for its insensitive Juneteenth filter that asked users to smile to break chains and removed it from the platform on Friday. 

Juneteenth commemorates the end of slavery in the United States. Celebrated on June 19, it marks the day Major General Gordon Granger and Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, with federal orders that declared enslaved people free. 

It carries extra weight this year as protests against systemic racism this month have amplified calls for it to become a federal holiday. In response, several major companies have given employees a paid day off, but it’s still not an official holiday.  

Which is why Snapchat’s bizarre Juneteenth filter seemed especially out of touch. The controversy comes just weeks after ex-Snapchat employees told Mashable that the company’s editorial practices were racially biased. 

The filter, which the company took down on Friday, prompted users to smile. When they did, broken chains would appear on the Pan-African flag behind them. Black Twitter users voiced their discomfort. 

The company apologized for the insensitive filter, and told CNBC that although a “diverse group” of its developers were involved in the process, the final product was not approved though Snapchat’s review process. 

Here’s the full statement to CNBC: 

“We deeply apologize to the members of the Snapchat community who found this Lens offensive. A diverse group of Snap team members were involved in developing the concept, but a version of the Lens that went live for Snapchatters this morning had not been approved through our review process. We are investigating why this mistake occurred so that we can avoid it in the future.” 

Snapchat came under fire in 2016 for creating filters that whitewashed skin, gave users slanted eyes, and applied blackface. 

After the complaints from former employees surfaced, Snapchat said it has taken steps to improve its workplace culture. It hired a vice president of diversity and inclusion last year and CEO Evan Spiegel supported the Black Lives Matter movement in a memo to staff earlier this month.

But those efforts didn’t prevent another racially-charged misstep.