TEXAS, USA — Your favorite face-altering filters are back on Instagram!
Exactly one week after Meta disabled certain augmented reality filters for Texans, all filters have returned after a recent update.
But the feature isn't immediately available, users now have to opt-in.
All you have to do is open your camera in Instagram, then push and hold the screen to pull up your face-altering filters. A message will then pop up asking for permission to use them. Once you click 'allow,' your filters are back.
You can also opt back out at any time.
On May 11, the ability to use those filters was disabled due to Texas' facial recognition laws, according to Meta.
The change came after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit accusing the company of misusing facial recognition technology.
Paxton says the filters break the Texas Capture or Use of Biometric Identifier Act, because they learn a user's face and can automatically tag or associate a person with an image, typically without consent.
The ban on AR filters also took place in Illinois. The state has a similar law to the CUBI Act in Texas, called the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act, meaning the filters can't be used within the state lines of Illinois.
In April 2022, Facebook settled a class-action lawsuit for upwards of 1.4 million users in Illinois.
Their lawsuit claimed Facebook "collected and stored biometric data of Facebook users in Illinois without proper notice or consent", which is in violation of Illinois law.
Settlement payments were mailed to residents who fit the definition of "Facebook users located in Illinois for whom Facebook created and stored a face template after June 7, 2011."