Unicode 9 Proposed Emoji (Photo : Facebook)
Apple has reportedly yanked a proposed rifle emoji after Unicode accepted the little picture as an industry standard. The tech giant has decided to remove the rifle character from Unicode 9's next emoji set. In fact, it seems Apple and Microsoft have led the fight against the gun emoji following the recent Orlando shooting at a gay nightclub.
BuzzFeed reported that Apple started the talk at the Unicode Consortium to remove the rifle emoji after it had passed the encoding process for the June release of Unicode 9.0. Microsoft also reportedly opposed the emoji at the big meeting of the non-profit organization.
Apple's alleged support for pulling the rifle emoji would also affect other platforms including Google's Android and Microsoft's Windows. The reason is that platform vendors must show each Unicode character's style but not the subject.
The pistol-shooting sport Modern Pentathlon has also been bumped from Unicode 9. Like the rifle emoji it had been proposed in the past.
The emoji representing the shooting sport was one of several emojis that were being considered before the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil this summer. Others included gold, silver, and bronze medals.
Apple could be opposing the rifle emoji due to its somewhat liberal voice on social issues. It could also be related to the gun rights debate now taking place in the United States.
Apple CEO Tim Cook called for a moment of silence during the company's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 13, Monday. The mass shooting in Orlando, Florida happened a week ago when a lone gunman used an assault rifle to kill 49 people.
However, Apple has not taken a total anti-gun position on its platform. For example, a handgun emoji has been included on the company's emoji keyboard for iPhones, iPads and Macs for a long time, according to 9 to 5 Mac.
Meanwhile, Apple's App store includes games and apps with icons showing guns as well as shooting. Last year the California-based company stated that it would start enforcing an App Store rule requiring that app icons, screenshots and previews follow the 4+ age rating.
The rifle emoji will still show up as a black-and-white character in Unicode 9. However, it will not appear as a color character on software keyboards. This means that the gun picture can still be used in text like all other emoji and typo-graphical symbols such as "%" and "&", according to Quartz.
Here's the history of emoj told using emojis:
