Snapchat ‘Yellow Face’ lens slapped as offensive

Vanishing message app Snapchat made a photo lens quickly disappear after an online uproar branding it an offensive stereotype of Asians worthy of the label “Yellow Face.”

The lens overlaid faces in photos with cartoon visages featuring slanted eyes, wide cheeks and toothy grins.

Snapchat pulled the lens after its release on Tuesday ignited concerns it was insulting and racist.

Snapchat said the lens was meant as a playful take on anime characters and promised it would not return to circulation.

“Snapchat virtualised old-timey yellow face without thinking about how it effects E-Asians,” read a Twitter message fired off by the account of @brtnyle.

“It’s disappointing whether it was deliberate or not.” Southern California-based Snapchat was hit with similar charges of being racially insensitive earlier this year after releasing a Bob Marley filter that people could use to add graphics of dreadlocks to photos.

The filter which Snapchat said it designed in the spirit of the late reggae star also modified facial features and darkened skin tone.