Let’s be honest: who hasn’t ever used an emoji? Everyday we use instant messaging apps such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Viber and so on, and we often replace words with a nice emoji, don’t we? That’s why the success of these symbols is constantly growing. They really help us to express ourselves.
Today we have some news that might interest you. This week the Unicode Consortium (the organization that select the symbols you get on your devices) has published the Unicode 9.0, adding about 70 new emojis, but triggering strong critics from both Microsoft and Apple. What’s happened? Among the new emojis there is also a rifle. So? It seems that the two giant companies have no intention to include it among their symbols.
Considering what has just happened in the USA (for example, the Orlando’s shooting), this decision doesn’t surprise us very much, we can even agree with it. But the question is: if they don’t like the idea of having a rifle among their emojis, why they don’t remove the already existing pistol? But let’s take a step back. Unicode Consortium has planned to add in Unicode 9.0 the rifle symbol as part of a set of emoji relating to winter sports.
According to a report from Buzzfeed, Apple immediately objected: “Apple started the discussion to remove the rifle emoji [and] told the consortium it would not support a rifle on its platforms and asked for it not to be made into an emoji.” Buzzfeed also added that a member of the Unicode Consortium said: “I heard Apple speak up about it and also Microsoft“. Despite these critics, the rifle emoji will still be included in Unicode 9.0, but with some changes: it will have only black and white images.
Obviously, now the debate is open, with several comments on the web. As we said above, if you use any instant messaging app such as WhatsApp, Telegram and others, you certainly have noticed that there are emojis of bombs or pistols. So the question is: why only the rifle emoji has been so criticized? Anyway, forgetting for a moment this controversial topic, the new emojis will include also a croissant, a baguette, a cucumber, a carrot, kebab and kiwi.