Norway Has Made It Illegal To Not Label Retouched Photos On Social Media

Norway has now made it illegal to not label retouched images on social media in an effort to curb body dysmorphia in the country. Amendments to the country’s 2009 Marketing Act state that influencers and advertisers must now acknowledge when photos have been edited. This includes altering body size, shape or skin tone and images with a filter in place.

Those who fail to comply with the law will face large fines and in extreme cases, potential imprisonment. “Body pressure is always there, often imperceptibly and is difficult to combat,” the Ministry said in a statement. “The measure will hopefully make a useful and significant contribution to curbing the negative impact that such advertising has, especially on children and young people.”  

However, despite the positive move, the Ministry does recognize that the law may be difficult to enforce as one can’t always tell when an image has been altered. Another issue raised by the act is that it’s unclear whether adjustments to lighting or saturation, which can be used to alter skin tones, will be considered a violation. 

Despite this, the bill has had widespread support from Norway’s influencer community with many asking for the law to go further and extend the regulations to all content, but again, it’s unclear how that would be policed. Norwegian users will still be faced with edited images online from those who the law does not apply to, so the jury is still out on how much of an impact the move will have in controlling unrealistic beauty standards in the country. 

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