Be Careful When Using Emojis On WeChat-Can Be Used As Evidence

Recently, "emojis can be used as a basis for judicial determination" has caused heated discussions. As the most commonly used communication app, WeChat has become a part of everyone's daily life, and now the skills of using every emoji correctly has also become important.

It is reported that since 2018, emojis were taken as evidence in 158 law cases in China, including 8 cases in 2018, 23 cases in 2019, 66 cases in 2020, and 61 cases in 2021, with a significant increase.

Difficulties With “Real Meanings” of Emojis

As the interpretation of emojis is highly subjective and there are no unified standards, it is often difficult for courts to accurately "translate" the true meaning of the parties.

For example, in a housing leasing dispute case in Guangdong, the lessee, after the expiration of the lease term, was reminded by the lessor many times, but neither agreed with renewing the lease with higher rent nor moved out of the house, and only replied with a "sun" emoji. Later, the two parties disagreed on whether the emoji represented an agreement to increase the rent. The lessor sued to the court and claimed that the lessee agreed by sending the "sun" emoji, which was supported by the court.

In a personality right dispute case, the defendant sent a number of "bomb" emojis to the plaintiff through WeChat to express his emotions after a conflict with the plaintiff. And it was considered as a personal threat and the defendant was asked to made an apology. The two parties finally reached a settlement under the mediation of the court.

In addition, the same emoji may be displayed differently in various mobile devices. For example, the "embarrassed smile" emoji in Apple's IOS system is displayed as "happy smile" in the Android system, which can easily lead to misunderstandings.

"Smile" emoji on different platforms

Disagreements Among Courts

Different courts still have disagreements on whether emojis are probative.

For example, the Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court adjudicated in a warehousing contract dispute case that, emojis were visual images that assisted in expressing mood, emotion and thoughts, and could not be identified as legal commitments based on emojis alone, so they did not recognize the "OK" emoji as an agreement.

But in a private loan dispute, Xiamen Intermediate Court held that, according to the daily communication habits and chatting context, the "OK" emoji should be regarded as consent to the other party's request, and the judgment should be made accordingly.

In addition, there are different interpretations of emojis with neutral meanings.

For example, in a sales contract dispute case, the seller sent the details of the unsettled payment to the buyer through WeChat, and the buyer only replied with the emoticon "Don't talk". The court of First Instance took it as a disagreement. 

However, the Court of Second Instance held that the buyer neither replied nor denied, which should be regarded as an acquiescence to the seller's claim, and changed the judgment of the First Instance.

Law Reminder From Courts

Emojis are conducive to the emotional, interesting and simplified online communication, and to a certain extent make up for the emotional attitude that is difficult to express in words. 

However, improper or even malicious use of emojis can also lead to negative results, resulting in disputes, infringements and even illegal crimes or other legal issues.

Since there may be multiple interpretations of the meaning of emojis, in online conversations involving vital interests, the key information should be expressed in words as much as possible, or emojis that are not easy to cause ambiguity, to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings and disputes.

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