Emoji serves as evidence in court case

An Emoji has served as court evidence in a debt dispute in Dingnan county, Jiangxi province, according to Jiangxi High People's Court on Friday. The debt dispute began last year.

On Dec 22, through WeChat, the plaintiff, surnamed Guo, chatted with one of the defendants, surnamed Liu, whose son borrowed nearly 160,000 yuan ($22,285) from Guo, asking him to be the debt guarantor. Two days later on Dec 24, Liu replied with an OK hand sign Emoji.

On Jan 6, Guo sued Liu as the guarantor and his son for the overdue debt, demanding a payment of the money with an interest of 7,907.88 yuan. During trial, Liu expressed his objection to his responsibility of being the guarantor to his son's debt, believing that the OK hand Emoji was a reply and not an agreement, so he shouldn't be liable for the debt.

However, people's court in Dingnan county ruled that the OK hand sign Emoji replied by Liu signaled Liu's agreement to be the guarantor of the debt and hence hold the liability of repaying the debt when it was overdue.

In the end, the two sides reached a reconciliation agreement that Liu and his son share the liability of the overdue debt and they will pay the debt within a limited time period.

In recent years, cases involving Emoji as court evidence have seen a steady increase nationwide, from eight in 2018 to 61 in 2021, according to a report on China Judgements Online, an official website disclosing judgement documents under the Supreme People's Court,

However, considering an Emoji might be used in various occasions, the specific meaning behind an Emoji can be subjective, which poses difficulties for a court to decode the real intentions of the parties, according to the Jiangsu High People's Court in its official WeChat account, adding that emojis have also been used as encrypted language to deliver message in some case related to prostitution, gambling and drugs.