Emoji, Not Evidence?
By Amira Taneja
Emojis are the tiny little faces that have become central to our digital experience, and woven itself as part of our digital vernacular.
These small visual representations of an emotion, object, or symbol express and articulate what a person wants to say or is feeling in a new, short-hand, and modern way. Maybe it shouldn’t be so surprising then that “emoji evidence” has begun to make an appearance in courtrooms–with messages that include emojis being used to support or defend legal arguments that are made.
Emoji are showing up as evidence in court more frequently with each passing year. Between 2004 and 2019, there was an exponential rise in emoji and emoticon references in US court opinions, with over 30 percent of all cases appearing in 2018, according to Santa Clara University law professor Eric Goldman, who has been tracking all of the references to “emoji” and “emoticon” that show up in US court opinions. So far, the emoji and emoticons have rarely been important enough to sway the direction of a case, but as they become more common, the ambiguity in how emoji are displayed and what we interpret emoji to mean could become a larger issue for courts to contend with.
- The Verge
But what does this mean, and what exactly are the implications of emoji evidence being used or taken seriously in court?
Emojis by themselves are ambiguous and can carry a different meaning based on the context and cultural setting in which they are used. There is always a very real possibility that emoji-focused messages will be interpreted differently by audiences who do not understand the original meaning, tone, or intent.
To add to the complications, emojis render differently across platforms and devices which can result in miscommunication and inconsistency. It seems that one must then ponder over the effectiveness of using the “emoji” as evidence as it presents itself as hearsay evidence.
But if anything has been made apparent by the growing prevalence of emoji evidence, it is that the law has not caught up to the new digital landscape let alone the new-age way of communicating (a thing they should consider doing — and quick!)
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