Apple has announced that the next update to its emoji catalog would style the “gun” icon as a toy, rather than a pistol, reports the Washington Post. The emoji is really a revolver not a pistol.
New Yorkers Against Gun Violence has been pushing for the emoji switch by waging a high-profile PR campaign called #DisarmTheiPhone, in an attempt to bring awareness to the toll of criminal violence involving firearms by urging Apple to remove all gun related emojis.
The organization succeeded in its social-media symbolic effort. Apple has succumbed to the social pressure of villainizing an object rather than focusing on the fact that people are responsible for their actions.
The narrative is that guns are bad, no matter the depiction or context. What we hear so little about is how more effort could be focused to make real progress in the fight against keeping guns out of the hands of criminals.
So, even though it’s the easy thing to do, it’s sad to see companies like Apple get caught up in silly social media ploys.
