Emoji are showing up as evidence in court more frequently

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. Electronic databases of court opinions aren’t set up to handle the actual emoji, and they aren’t displayed in case database services like Westlaw or Lexis, which is where Goldman finds his references. In murder cases, emoji could be found in threats that took place between the defendant and the victim, and they serve as evidence that suggests the defendant’s state of mind or whether they had a propensity to commit the crime.

Source: www.theverge.com