Instagram has been criticised over coronavirus-themed filters which appear to have been made available to users in response to the global outbreak.
The filters, which are used for Instagram stories, can reportedly be found by searching "coronavirus" on Instagram’s Effect Gallery.
Screen grabs show some filling the screen with coronavirus molecules that hover around the user’s face. Others include a test that "determines if you’ll contract or die from the coronavirus", with text that flashes between "no I’m safe (for now)" and "yes, goodbye".
Another filter covers the users face with black sores.
The filters have provoked outrage among many social media users, who have branded them “stupid” and “inappropriate”.
One wrote: “Instagram has just released a new filter: ‘Coronavirus Analysis’ whether or not you’re infected... we’re talking about something that is currently killing people!! Completely inappropriate”.
“Considering how tightly controlled [Instagram filter] approved process is, this seems a big oversight," added another.
Others took issue with the wording used in the effects.
“I saw a new ‘what are you...’ Instagram filter that alternated between ‘clean’ and ‘infected’ for Wuhan Coronavirus and I cannot begin to express the rage I have at that terminology,” said one Twitter user.
However, some people said the filters are being created to share information about the virus.
One shared a video of him using a coronavirus-themed filter, writing: “I’m using the technology of Augmented Reality to create a #Instagram filter that would make people aware of the origins of #coronavirus and how to prevent how it spreads out!”
Another filter of a red coronavirus molecule has been used to show how the virus can survive on surfaces.
More than 110,000 people worldwide have so far been diagnosed with coronavirus, and more than 3,800 deaths have been connected to the illness.
