Snapchat’s Juneteenth filter prompts users to smile to break chains

Friday, 19 June 2020 (7 hours ago)
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

In its latest filter blunder, Snapchat has debuted a Juneteenth filter that allows users to “smile and break the chains.” The filter was panned by critics on Friday morning for its tone deafness.

Atlanta-based digital strategist Mark S. Luckie demonstrated the filter on Twitter, calling it “interesting.” The filter shows what appears to be an approximation of the Pan-African flag, and prompts the user to smile — a common trigger for animated Snapchat filters — causing chains to appear and then break behind the user.



This SnapChat #Juneteenth filter is...um...interesting.

Smile to break the chains? Okay then. pic.twitter.com/Wyob3kT3ew

— Mark S. Luckie (@marksluckie) June 19, 2020

Juneteenth is the anniversary of the day in 1865 when...

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