During this year’s annual FINRA conference, a panel of officials announced that in connection with retaining and supervising electronic messages, firms might have to begin reviewing emojis to determine whether they constitute reportable customer complaints.
FINRA’s proclamation appears to be problematic for firms. First, FINRA didn’t announce whether technology exists to find, let alone, translate emojis. Second, emojis are constantly being added. Finally, the meaning of emojis depends on context and the “space-time continuum,” including the generation bracket of the sender and recipient. For example, the thumbs up emoji ?used to mean, “good job,” but for Gen Z-ers, it’s more of an insult about something you botched, rather than a positive sign, and sometimes it means, “sure, whatever” in response to something you’ve said. Without industry consultation about these issues, it’s easy to predict what will happen next: ?.
Source: Emoji Enforcement: Surely you can’t be serious. – Eversheds Sutherland
