Apple (AAPL, Tech30) and Microsoft (MSFT, Tech30) argued against it, according to Buzzfeed’s premier Unicode beat reporter Charlie Warzel. Apple declined to comment on the company’s involvement in the decision, and a dozen Unicode members declined to speak about the discussions. There was a rifle emoji on the proposed list for 2016, but thanks to Apple’s considerable influence, it was nipped in the bud.
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The emoji initially passed Unicode’s review, but there had been talks of banning the rifle emoji since last October, when a gun-control campaign shared their concerns about the influence emojis now have on people. The decision to remove the rifle emoji, as well as a second “pentathlon” emoji depicting a man holding a pistol among other athletes, was apparently unanimous. Microsoft also allegedly spoke up with Apple about removing the rifle. As soon the release of new emoji is announced, the rifle emoji was objected by a British Gun Control group, “It would be familiarising and popularising the image of a weapon which is not a good idea”.
But several companies, including Apple, Microsoft, and even Google are believed to have opposed to this proposal, explaining that they don’t want a rifle emoji on their devices.
“The committee decided not to mark them as Emoji, but to add them as characters (that is, normal black & white symbols)”, he explained.
“These will not be recommended for emoji presentation by vendors when the final version of Unicode 9 is released next month”, is what the organization wrote in a blog post at the time.
While many might think having a rifle emoji is harmless, especially if it’s just to signify a sport, others may think it is insensitive to include one after the recent Orlando shooting.
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Unicode President Mark Davis later confirmed the decision, but has not elaborated as to the reasons why.
