where is the gun emoji?

Question

where is the gun emoji?

It seems that as well apple as well google are confusing

reality and its representation.

Speechless about this silly way of censorship announced by google today.

https://blog.emojipedia.org/google-updates-gun-emoji/

and I am also very annoyed by apples way of infantilizing the world.

https://blog.emojipedia.org/apple-and-the-gun-emoji/

This is one step more towards newspeak as Orwell described

a political correct and fully censored language.

Apple and Googe, why are you taking our language away?

What we say is none of your business.

MacBook Air, macOS High Sierra (10.13.4)

Posted on Apr 25, 2018 7:50 AM

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Answer 1

Kurt Lang

Level 9

68,472 points

Apr 25, 2018 7:57 AM in response to kssun

To add, this has nothing to do with Apple directly. The Unicode Consortium controls what emojis are allowed. There used to be one, but they removed it from the list.

https://unicode.org/emoji/charts/full-emoji-list.html

That means no one has a gun emoji, not just Apple.

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Answer 2

Apr 25, 2018 8:07 AM in response to Kurt Lang

I don't know if I would call this a requirement. And I am not particularly interested in guns. However I am very suspicious and also doubtful of the reshaping of meaning: Which is: some things should not be said anymore on the apple platform, and even if this is in a graphical way. If you want you can extend this to the discussion related to

hate speech. Which is mostly neither illegal nor anti-constitutional, but it harms the feeling of the operators. So they can decide to change it, and take something away from the users, which they previously owned.

American Payment systems such as Papal in 2010 for example, also blocked payments to Julien Assange.

https://www.wired.com/2010/12/paypal-wikileaks/

In that sense, yes apple (or more precisely the Unicode consortium) is not required to provide the users with certain emoticons, as paypal is also not obliged to transfer money. It is a discussion worth discussing.

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Answer 3

Kurt Lang

Level 9

68,472 points

Apr 25, 2018 8:12 AM in response to Martin Dreschau

Then why bring it up at all?

It was removed because, for the rather short time it was available, people were using it to threaten others. Such as, "The next time I see your blankey-blank-blank rear end, I'm going to (gun emoji)."

This happened often enough to warrant its removal. Emojis are supposed to be fun, not a means to threaten someone.

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