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- Emojis have become widely used in communication, even in the workplace, but using one incorrectly can send the wrong message.
- A simple laughing emoji can be seen as insubordination, while a smiley moon face was found to have affected a company's share price.
- Equally, even the red-flagged emojis can be innocent, depending on the context.
- For more stories, visit the Tech and Trends homepage.
With more than 3 600 emojis in circulation globally, typing a text message or email without the use of one almost feels taboo these days, but some emojis can get you in trouble with your employer and possibly with the law.
Something as simple as a laughing emoji can be seen as insubordination in the workplace, but it all depends on the context of the conversation.
This is according to social media law expert and The Digital Law Company CEO Emma Sadleir, who emphasises that an emoji can change the meaning of a message.
"The thing is, context changes everything. A laughing emoji can be threatening and it can also be humour. It could mean insubordination; it could be a respect issue and it could also be sexual harassment.
"An emoji changes the message. For example, I could say 'I'm going to kill you' with no emoji or I could say 'I'm going to kill you' with 10 laughing emojis. Those are totally different messages," she said.
Not just a way of communicating
Emojis may be just a simple way of enhancing communication, but they beginning to land people in serious trouble.
"Emojis are just a new way to communicate. We have all these laws regulating communication, whether it's in the workplace where people get fired for inappropriate use of things like a peach emoji or water sprinkle to a colleague. That's sexual harassment," Sadleir said.
She, as well as labour lawyer and mediator Patrick Daele, says several emojis can be seen as inappropriate, intimidating or even threatening.
These include bombs and guns, especially in situations where pupils in America threaten to blow up schools.
A gun emoji next to a head emoji sends the message that one wants to kill another.
Even red lip emojis have been interpreted as sexual harassment.
"The middle finger is another one everyone knows," said Daele.
Legally binding
Some emojis can be legally binding, as far as contracts are concerned, especially the thumbs-up emoji, which can be interpreted as "yes".
"There have been some very interesting cases recently. About three weeks ago, in Canada, a court found that a legal contract had been concluded via emoji. A grain dealer contacted a farmer to ask if he could get a certain amount of flax … he said 'send me the agreement' … and the guy replied with just a thumbs-up emoji.
"He [the farmer] tried to wiggle out of it, but the court said no, the contract had been concluded when he sent that emoji," Sadleir said.
A judge ordered the farmer to pay a fine of over $61 000 (R301 516) for an unfulfilled contract.
Other instances include a case of insider trading that was decided by an emoji. On 12 August 2022, former Bed, Bath & Beyond investor Ryan Cohen responded to a tweet by CNBC predicting that the company's share price would drop to $1.
Cohen's response to the tweet was "at least her cart is full", referring to an image that accompanied the tweet. The response was accompanied by a smiling moon emoji. Investors interpreted this as Cohen hinting that the share price would go up to the moon.
Some are just innocent
"There are some emojis which communicate a clear message, like a thumbs-up, thumbs-down, happy face, sad face ... The ones that are clearer and more readily identifiable and recognisable as language…" Daele said.
But both experts said sometimes even the most red-flagged emojis can be innocent in a certain context. Using an eggplant emoji in the context of putting together a grocery list, for example, cannot seen as inappropriate.
This and other more ambiguous, more nuanced emojis require context to make sense.
