Norway has passed a new law, that now makes it illegal for influencers and advertisers not to disclose if images have been retouched.
The new law will only apply to promotional photos created by influencers and advertisers and aims to help combat body image issues amongst young people.
According to Insider, the push for this new law came from the Ministry of Children and Family Affairs.
The Ministry sent an initial proposal to the Norweigan parliamentary body. The report pushed for change and used several studies to make their case that the country needs body image reform.
The report also pointed out that according to the National Institute of Public Health, “anorexia is the third most common cause of death among young girls. ”
The report discussed in length how airbrushed images were creating an ideal beauty that young people could not achieve, and therefore was causing body pressure.
According to BuzzFeed, the new law is an amendment to the 2009 Marketing Act.
The law was passed in a 72-15 vote in Norwegian Parliament.
According to Freepress journal the amendment states, “The advertiser and the person designing the advertisement must further ensure that the advertisement where a body’s shape, size or skin has been changed by retouching or other manipulation, shall be marked.”
The amendment also states that people who break this law will face heavy fines and possible prison time.
However, the law has yet to be approved by the King of Norway. That means the law is currently not applicable.
