Emojis are increasingly used as digital evidence in courts, leading to miscommunication and misinterpretation due to their variability. This study examines emoji variation in Chinese and US courts through qualitative content analysis of court judgments and supplementary materials. Six categories of variation are identified: variation across platforms, temporal variation, variation in court cases under different rules of evidence, variation in individual participants, variation across social groups, and linguistic-cultural variation. A social semiotic perspective highlights the context-dependent and interpreter-dependent nature of emoji meanings. The study suggests that legal professionals should consider historical, social, cultural, and legal contexts when interpreting emojis, and that a contextualized approach can improve judicial decision-making regarding emoji-bearing texts and digital evidence.

Jiamin Pei, Le Cheng