Nowadays people seem to become more and more sensitive and get offended by small things. Recently an Advocate from Delhi has sent a legal notice to Whatsapp on December 26, to remove the middle finger emoji from its messaging. The Advocate found the emoji offensive for users and message recipients.
Nowadays, all the messengers like WhatsApp are updating their messaging services with new emojis, icons, and stickers. Recently WhatsApp introduced new emojis in its messages and one of them is the middle finger icon. Gurmeet Singh, a city court lawyer in Delhi says that the middle finger gesture is obscene, illegal and an offence in India. He said in its notice that using the middle finger gesture is an offensive and highly obscene and invasive gesture.
Whatsapp is the most popular Digital Messenger
Whatsapp is the most popular digital messenger used in mobile phones for sending, text messages, images and videos to any person. The company updates its messaging service from time to time by adding new features. Whatsapp recently added the middle finger emoji to its messages which seems offensive to some people.
According to the Indian Penal Code Section 354 and Section 509, showing of obscene and offensive gestures to women is an offence. Also, using such gestures by anyone is illegal as aforesaid. Using and showing obscene, offensive and lewd gestures are illegal not only in India but also in many other countries. The notice said that by offering the middle finger emoji, Whatsapp is promoting the use of middle finger gesture.
Whatsapp offered multiple Emojis in its messages
Emojis are digital icons also called smileys used in Whatsapp and other digital messaging services for expressing the emotions. Emojis not only include the facial expressions but also the objects, places, foods, weather, and animals. Emojis are used to express the ideas or emotions during conversation or chat.
The Delhi lawyer, Gurmeet Singh asked Whatsapp in its notice to remove the middle finger emoji from its messaging services within 15 days of receiving the notice. He also said, that if the digital messaging company denies doing so, he will fill civil or criminal cases against the company. It is not only the Whatsapp but many other companies are using the middle finger icon in their messaging services, Whatsapp being the most popular among them.
Source:ibitimes.co.in
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