Apple stops Unicode from releasing a rifle emoji, gun advocates get mad

After months of anticipation and (apparently) somedebate, 72 new emoji characters are officially on their way to smartphones everywhere as part ofUnicode 9.0.

The emoji keyboardupdate, released to developers on Tuesday, includespictographic representations ofbreakfast foods, mostly, like bacon and pancakes and eggs.It also includes a "vomit" face, a male version of the popular "red dress dancing lady,"and an outstretched arm meant to represent the word "selfie."

What the new batch of characters doesn'tinclude contrary to earlier documents showingwhat many thoughtwas a finalized list is arifle emoji.

Emojipedia reported late last month that the Unicode Consortium, which regulates and standardizes the emoji keyboard, had scrapped two characters from theupdate in question, taking the total number of glyphsfrom74 down to 72.

"Modern pentathlon," which in some iterations shows a man pointing a gun, was one of 10 new sports characters thought to be created in preparation for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.

"Sporting rifle,"whiledescribed with the terms"marksmanship, sport shooting, hunting," on Unicode's website, wasfiled under the"objects" category the same category that holds dagger, bomb, cigarette, coffinand pistol emojisright now.

Both of these gun emojis can be seen in an archived version ofUnicode's original list,as it appeared on May 14, but neither rifle nor pentathlonappearedin theUnicode9.0emojicharton the day of its release, or for about a month previous to it.

This means that they were "not recommended for emoji presentation by vendors," and that they likely won't appear on emoji keyboards when smartphone manufacturers like Apple and Google incorporate Unicode's new update into their operating systems.

The scrapping of thesecharacters didn't raise much public concern when it happened, but at least a few journalists noticedthat theywerepulledatypically late in the game so late that they'd already been encoded, according to the Guardian.

Given the state of gun politics in the U.S., where theUnicode Consortium is based,curiosities were piqued over whether events like the recent massshooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, in which a lone gunman killed 49 people and wounded 53 others, had influenced the decision.

It couldn't have, of course,as the massacre took place weeks after the rifle emojiwas nixed.

But Orlando was only the latest of many statesidemass shootings carried out with high-poweredrifles in recent years,and this is far fromthe first time smartphone makers,particularly Apple,have come up in the context of guns.

Did Apple pressure Unicode to shoot down the rifle emoji?

BuzzFeedNews reported on Fridaythat "a somewhat unusual decision" wasmadeduring Unicode'squarterly technical meeting in May.

Citing an unnamed member of the consortium and "multiple persons who attended" the meeting, BuzzFeed reporter Charlie Warzel wrote thatApple had started the discussion that led to the debate over the inclusion of therifle emoji in Unicode 9.0.

"Apple is one of Unicode's largest member companies and not only has voting rights, but also holds considerable influence,"reads Warzel's report. "According to sources in the room, Apple started the discussion to remove the rifleemoji, which had already passed into the encoding process for theUnicode9.0 release this June. Apple told the consortium it would not support a rifle on its platforms and asked for it not to be made into anemoji."

While Microsoft is also said to have spoken upin support of removing the rifle emoji, Apple'srepresentative to Unicode, Peter Edberg, is listed alongsideUnicode Consortium president Mark Davis on the Open Action items list for removing both the rifle and modern pentathalon.

Davis confirmed toBBC News on Monday that "there was consensus to remove" the emojis, but that he couldn't comment on the details.

Outrage over an emoji that never came to be

As news spreads thatApple had a rolein blocking the rifle emojifrom being releasedthrough Unicode 9.0., many are celebrating theefforts of all companies who voted to nix iton behalf of "those who have been traumatized by gun threats and gun violence."

Advocates for gunrights, on the other hand,are accusing the iPhone manufacturerof selective censorship, while others are calling out bothApple and Microsoft for not removing the pistol that hasalready been present on their emoji keyboards for years.

The irony in restricting Americans from accessing tiny, digitalrifles on their smartphones while many can still pick up actualrifles at their local big box store has been noted.

One of the most interesting threads sparked by therifle emoji, however, relates tothe increasing power of tech companies when it comes to how we communicate and thusthepotential influenceof tech giants like Apple onpolitics and policy.

"We're talking about engineers that are concerned about standards and internationalization issues who now have to do something more in line with Apple or Google's marketing teams," said one Unicode member to Warzel inBuzzFeed's piece.

"It is a bizarre and unusual situation."