Apple officially kills the gun Emoji and Twitter goes mad about it ????????
The Emoji has become second nature to our mobile use. This fun creative way to show your emotions through miniature characters has been at our leisure since its launch on iOS in 2008. It is estimated that Emojis are used by 92 percent of the online population. Due to its popularity and some users asking for more representative characters, Apple sort to make the conversion to diversify and gender neutralise the Emoji characters in their recent iOS10 update. Further changes will allow users to be able to use multiracial characters, new family configurations and female occupational Emojis.
Due to the added pressure from the goings on in the news media Apple has also replaced existing Emojis. Apple has announced that their new update will feature a green water-gun Emoji in replacement of the black revolver gun Emoji. This has lead to an uproar on social media, with users taking to twitter to express their shock and anger at Apple.
So apple thought it was ok to take away the gun emoji and replace it with a water gun but give a middle finger one?
— Dirty Dan (@AveryLynn13) September 12, 2016
How the hell am I supposed to convey my anger with a WATER GUN????? #iOS10 https://t.co/x8mYF3zxmr
— M (@mayseintheam) September 13, 2016
Shit. Apple single handedly ended gun violence, all of it. Gun violence no longer exists. pic.twitter.com/yzWgrXEn8x
— ohcanada. (@AlbertanBitch) September 13, 2016
Some say that they would not be able to express their emotions clearly with a water-gun Emoji and others even go as far as to say that Apple have taken away their second amendment constitutional rights (the rights to keep and bear arms) by making this change. Users are also bashing Apple for not replacing other equally offensive Emojis such as the bomb, knife, smoking, and middle-finger.
From the response on twitter we can see that this change doesn’t sit well with many users, however there are others that see this as a positive step to tackling gun crime. With the recent mass gun killings in the U.S over the past few years, gun control has clearly been an issue for many people. In particular the group New Yorkers Against Gun Violence (NYAGV) which ran a campaign to remove the gun Emoji. The organisation’s Executive Director Leah Barrett stated that “there are many more life-affirming ways to express oneself than with a gun.” NYAGV and many other anti-firearm campaigners feel that Apple’s are finally standing up to the gun industry and in some way making a positive change.
By Abigail Sesay