Use of Emojis in Courts

Use of Emojis in Courts

An emoji can be defined as a small digital image that is used in the expression of an idea or a person’s emotion or feeling (Wijeratne et al. 2017).  different kinds of emojis are used to express different feelings and emotions in a person. They are used widely in digital platforms. This text has focused on how emojis can be used in courts. Emojis have been continuously used in text messages. Previously, they were drawn by a graphic designer named Shigetaka Kurita (Lee 2018).  and later generated by a communications firm in japan called NTT DoCoMo in the 1990s currently, they are used in all the digital platforms.

Emojis can land someone in a court of law. Sending an emoji that may hurt someone’s feelings can make the recipient seek justice. Several court meetings have been held to interpret emojis. This has led to a rise in academic literature, including forensic linguistics. It was discovered in the year 1968 by Jan Svartvik, a professor in linguistics (Quirk & Svartvik). Olsson defined it as the link between languages and criminal law where the law includes enforcement, legislation, judicial matters, law proceedings, and also disputes that involve infraction of the law.

Forensic linguistics is globally used as testimonies on the use of emojis as evidence. Argument-based use of emojis in South Africa has not been reported frequently. However, when considering the whole world, forensic linguistics may soon be applied in courts. This gives a good reason why develop the use of emojis as evidence.

Emojis in other courts

Forensic linguistics is used as witnesses in courts where they provide analysis of the legal documents or any oral evidence, including emojis.  They identify the author of a scholarly text based on the language used in the author’s document. They also make legal interpretations in the court. Besides interpretations, they can also do legal translations.

In the US, emojis have widely been used to frame others.  There was a case where the complainant reported that the tongue out emoji was used to insult and defame him on social media.  In court, it was held that the tongue out emoji was meant to insult, criticize, ridicule, and also denigrate the complainant.  The interpretation was made under facts and even other circumstances of the case.

Emoji interpretation depends on the facts and circumstances surrounding the sender’s details. This includes the tone and nature of communication that takes place during the emoji application. A man was convicted of threatening his girlfriend in 2016. He was found guilty of sending a gun emoji to his girlfriend. The court translates this as threatening someone’s life.

The US courts have interpreted the first bump, thumbs up, glasses, and handshake emojis to have a meaning of entering into a contract or an agreement. Emoji interpretation requires high levels of skills and knowledge. This requires intense application of forensic linguistics in courtrooms for a proper understanding of the evidence. Emojis are non-verbal forms of communication that are used all over the world. Forensic linguistics is ensuring that emojis are used in the right manner to provide justice among users. Their role in language and culture in South African courts will prove to be relevant after their interpretation.

Interpretation.

            The forensic linguistics has a role to play in South Africa concerning emoji interpretation and also the cultural barriers in the country. A sender may find themselves in a dilemma after sending an emoji, not knowing how the recipient will interpret it. Based on common knowledge, some emojis are offensive in nature. For example, monkey emoji may be viewed as being racist. It can be reflected in the history of the dark people who were compared to monkeys.  A pig emoji may also be interpreted as an insult. The pinching fingers emoji is interpreted as asking what one wants in south Africa. In other parts of the world, this means that everything is in order.

Emojis are meant to last. They have been existence and are still going to be used. With time, the South African courts will also introduce emojis where justice in their application will start being applied. Forensic linguistics plays an essential role in courts guidance in the files of use of emojis, and also their interpretations.

References.

Lee, S. (2018). Emoji at MoMA: Considering the’original emoji’as art. First Monday, 23(9).

Quirk, R., & Svartvik, J. (2019). Investigating linguistic acceptability (Vol. 54). Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG.

Wijeratne, S., Balasuriya, L., Sheth, A., & Doran, D. (2017, May). Emojinet: An open service and api for emoji sense discovery. In Eleventh International AAAI Conference on Web and Social Media.