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A number of social media influencers have been criticized for blacking up as part of their attempts to show solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement.
Since the killing of George Floyd after a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on his neck as he pleaded for his life, protests have erupted in cities across the world, with celebrities and social media influencers showing their support and joining in the protests.
However, some have been criticized for using blackface in their pictures.
Souhila Ben Lachhab, an Algerian singer with 1.6 million followers on Instagram, posted a picture of herself on the social media site, with her face painted half black.
Along with the photo, she uploaded a caption which read: ""#We're_one. Just because we are black on the outside, doesn't mean that we are black on the inside. Racist people are the true black heart ones. They are black on the inside, though they do not know it."
That led to thousands of people hitting back and criticizing her.
One wrote: "This is truly disrespectful, you're doing BLACKFACE", while another added: "Blackface is sourced from racism, you can express your solidarity without painting ur self, be careful."
Rashmi Mann, an artist from India issued an apology on her Instagram account after posting a photo of herself with her face painted black with the caption: "The makeup tutorial we need today #blm".
In a later apology uploaded on Instagram she said: "I apologize for creating a work that deemed insensitive, rightly so, a piece of performance is as much for ourselves as it is for people.
"I could not express the colorism that I intended to express, Indians face, and how "black lives matter" has given a voice to this discussion even in our country of deeply entrenched racism.
"I had intended to embrace the shame through my work but it invoked pain and brought about a non-Indian narrative to discussion."
She vowed to rework her narrative in a way that "does not hurt sentiments".
Blackface is considered to be offensive, due to its history and the manner in which it contributed to the spread of racial stereotypes.
Meanwhile, the BBC has confirmed that it has removed comedy sketch show Little Britain from its iPlayer streaming service, after its two starts, David Walliams and Matt Lucas used blackface.
A spokesperson for the BBC said: "Times have changed since Little Britain first aired so it is not currently available on BBC iPlayer."
