Some emoticons, such as a rocket ship, a stock chart, and moneybags, can be construed as symbols of financial returns on investment, according to a decision handed down by a district court in the Southern District of New York.
The former head of the SEC division, Lisa Braganca, warned of possible legal consequences of emoji adding that could be associated with monetary benefits in the future.
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It is important to remember that applying emoticons in communications is not the only factor that can influence investment decisions.
At the same time, the meaning of emojis can be highly subjective and depend on the context of use.
It is important to be careful when using emojis in messages not to mislead the recipient of the text.
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It is necessary to be accurate when choosing an emoticon in posts, especially when it comes to financial or investment topics, not to give a false impression to the recipient of the text.
Lawsuit
In support of its position, Braganca pointed to a lawsuit in which federal court judge Victor Marrero dismissed Dapper Labs' complaint, stating that the NBA Top Shot Twitter account used emoticons that could be interpreted as indicating financial returns.
Although the word "profit" was not mentioned in the tweets, the emoji had a clear financial context and could be taken as indicating the possibility of investment income.
The judge thought this was misleading to potential investors and dismissed the complaint.
The reaction of the crypto community
Users of the cryptocurrency community reacted sharply to a warning about the possibility of confusing investors through the use of financially colored emoticons in tweets.
One person called the news "tragic," perhaps because it could affect the ability to invest in cryptocurrency and the freedom to apply emojis.
Another user noted that the use of emoticons is no longer considered free speech, pointing to restrictions on freedom of expression on social media.
Conclusion
Even if the word "profit" was not used in the tweets, the judge considered that emojis depicting "rocket ship", "stock chart" and "moneybags" could be interpreted as a clear indication of the possibility of income from investments. Thus, the judge ruled that such emojis misled potential investors.
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Based on this decision, you must be extremely careful when choosing emojis for your tweets so as not to cause wrong associations and conclusions to those who read them.
