--- title: "All rise: Emoji have entered the court - The Hustle" description: Emoji messages are being entered as evidence in court, but interpretations vary. image: https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1748928362-HS-News-Brief_2023-02-02T004506.400Z.webp --- # All rise: Emoji have entered the court ![Sara Friedman](https://53.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/53/assets/hubspot.com/web-team/WBZ/HubSpot%20Media/Blog%202021/Images/Nav/Optimized/TheHustle_Icon_Dark.svg) [Sara Friedman](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/sara-friedman) [Sara Friedman Twitter profile ](https://twitter.com/sarafriedmannn) Published: February 02, 2023 Updated: October 11, 2023 If we wrote, “[👁️](https://emojipedia.org/eye/)[❤️](https://emojipedia.org/red-heart/)🍔,” would you know what it meant? ![All rise: Emoji have entered the court](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hs-fs/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1748928362-HS-News-Brief_2023-02-02T004506.400Z.webp?width=595&height=400&name=1748928362-HS-News-Brief_2023-02-02T004506.400Z.webp) According to the US court system — maybe. Emoji are showing up as evidence in court cases more frequently than ever before, per [*The Verge*](https://www.theverge.com/2019/2/18/18225231/emoji-emoticon-court-case-reference)*.* Law professor [Eric Goldman](https://blog.ericgoldman.org/), who’s been tracking [references](https://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2894&context=historical) to “emoji” and “emoticon” in US court opinions since 2004, says mentions skyrocketed in 2018. #### **Where things get complicated:** - Emoji are subjective and leave space for multiple interpretations. - Depending on what device or [platform](https://brenthecht.com/publications/cscw2018_emojiimpact.pdf) you’re using, they can look very [different](https://www.cnn.com/2019/07/08/tech/emoji-law/index.html). That makes it harder for emoji to serve as indisputable evidence, the way written communication might, but they can still provide helpful [context](https://www.americanbar.org/groups/law_practice/publications/law_practice_magazine/2022/jf22/king/) in court cases. #### **For example:** In a Bay Area case that followed a prostitution sting, prosecutors argued that a man was guilty of pimping charges. Among the evidence: Instagram DMs to a woman reading, “Teamwork make the dream work” alongside high heels and money bag emoji. The prosecutors said the message proved a working relationship between the two individuals. Defendants said it could simply be flirtatious. Since emoji specialists don’t exist (*adds to list of dream jobs*), an expert in sex trafficking was called to testify in the case. His take: The high heels and money bags supported the charges. All we know is that, after looking through those court records, the winky face better lawyer up. Topics: [Lawsuits](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/tag/lawsuits) [Big Tech](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/tag/big-tech) ## Follow us on social media prev next - ![Enshittification just keeps happening](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1666508617-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-enshittification_20230712223650-13.webp) ### Enshittification just keeps happening - ![After years of building pricey playgrounds, Big Tech recalibrates](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/995155615-httpsthdaily.s3.us-west-1.amazonaws.comfinal_size-Tech-Real-Estate_20230622224458.webp) ### After years of building pricey playgrounds, Big Tech recalibrates - ![TikTok’s new plan to avoid getting banned in the US](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1576652447-HS-News-Brief_2023-01-16T235439.232Z.webp) ### TikTok’s new plan to avoid getting banned in the US - ![Why are there so many tech layoffs?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/2012563462-HS-News-Brief_2023-01-24T002724.255Z.webp) ### Why are there so many tech layoffs? - ![Is eBay’s brief renaissance over?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/917426280-HS-News-Brief_2023-02-24T004301.526Z.webp) ### Is eBay’s brief renaissance over? - ![Why everyone’s talking about Section 230](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/817691686-HS-News-Brief_2023-02-23T015337.498Z.webp) ### Why everyone’s talking about Section 230 - ![Drivers crash into 7-Elevens daily](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/174485763-HS-News-Brief_2023-02-13T020243.573Z.webp) ### Drivers crash into 7-Elevens daily - ![Can Netflix be a lifestyle brand?](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/181502968-HS-News-Brief_2023-02-07T042108.421Z.webp) ### Can Netflix be a lifestyle brand? - ![What the past year of tech lobbying looked like](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/937681179-HS-News-Brief_2023-01-25T233808.193Z.webp) ### What the past year of tech lobbying looked like - ![An underwear lawsuit, explained](https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1510116000-HS-News-Brief_2023-01-23T005611.870Z.webp) ### An underwear lawsuit, explained Pop up for Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Newsletter Subscribe to The Hustle Daily Newsletter Get the 5-minute news brief keeping 2.5M+ innovators in the loop. Always free. 100% fresh. No bullsh*t. JOIN FREE ### 100% Free CRM Nurture and grow your business with customer relationship management software. Signup for a free account Close modal ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Sara Friedman", "url" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/author/sara-friedman" }, "datePublished" : "2023-02-02T08:51:39.000Z", "headline" : "All rise: Emoji have entered the court", "image" : [ "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/hubfs/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1748928362-HS-News-Brief_2023-02-02T004506.400Z.webp" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/news/02022023-emojis", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject" } } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@id" : "#article", "@type" : "NewsArticle", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Sara Friedman", "url" : "https://hs-sbup.thehustle.co/author/sara-friedman" }, "dateModified" : "2023-10-11T19:35:03+0000", "datePublished" : "2023-02-02T08:51:39+0000", "headline" : "All rise: Emoji have entered the court", "image" : [ "https://7355427.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/7355427/The%20Hustle%20News/Assets/Images/1748928362-HS-News-Brief_2023-02-02T004506.400Z.webp" ], "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "height" : 112, "url" : "https://fs.hubspotusercontent00.net/hubfs/53/assets/hubspot.com/web-team/WBZ/Blog%202021/Images/Logos/HubSpot%20Logo%20112X112.svg", "width" : 112 }, "name" : "HubSpot", "sameAs" : [ "https://www.facebook.com/hubspot", "https://twitter.com/hubspot" ], "url" : "https://www.hubspot.com" }, "speakable" : { "@type" : "SpeakableSpecification", "xPath" : [ "//title", "/html/head/meta[@name='description']/@content" ] } } ```