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https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/emojis-increasingly-being-used-as-evidence-in-chinese-courts-report-101656578107034.html

Emojis - the tiny and trendy digital images used to denote emotion in digital communication - are increasingly being used as evidence in Chinese courts, local media reports said this week. One intermediate court in the southern city of Shenzhen recognised a response using a sun emoji as an endorsement of extending the lease in a rental dispute, the Sixth Tone website said in a report on how emojis were being used as proof in courts, adding, A county court in the eastern Anhui province stated in 2020 that an icon referring to the OK hand gesture didnt constitute evidence for the acknowledgement of a loan contract. Chinese courts have taken cognizance of emojis in at least 158 cases filed across the country since 2018. The number of cases where lawyers presented emojis as evidence rose from eight in 2018 to 61 in 2021. There were 23 such cases in 2019, and the highest so far, 66 in 2020. The information triggered a buzz on Chinese social media with discussions on Weibo, Chinas version of Twitter, being read more than 200 million times in the past two days.

Ironically, many shared the emoji for surprise after reading the news. Others wondered aloud how careful they need to be in using emojis while exchanging messages. The use of these icons, however, is not regulated and local media reports said theres much confusion about their usage. According to the news website thepaper.cn, the Jiangsu Higher Peoples Court said, the interpretation of emojis is highly subjective and lacks a unified standard, making it difficult for the court to accurately translate the true meaning of the symbols. Therefore, although emoji, as a form of expression, can be used as evidence in court, in the process of specific practice, relevant aspects still need to be viewed with caution, the court said in its post. In a 2020 thesis titled Aggressiveness of emojis before the court: a sociosemiotic interpretation, three Chinese experts said the usage is a new challenge for courts. Emojis, used as evidence as any language is used in communication, have posed new challenges for courts to adopt emojis as evidence beyond the traditional mode of speech and communication and to interpret them appropriately, especially their aggressive side of meaning, said Le Cheng, Yuxiu Sun and Jian Li, writing in the peer-reviewed journal Social Semiotics, which focusses on communication, cultural studies, linguistics and languages.