China’s Twitter-like service stubs out its ‘cool’ smoking emoji
Smiling yellow face wearing sunglasses loses its cigarette in response to users’ comments, Sina Weibo says
China’s top social media platform wants to make something very clear – smoking is no longer cool.
Sina Weibo, the Twitter-like microblogging service, on Wednesday replaced its “cool” emoji – a smiling yellow face wearing sunglasses and smoking a cigarette – with a non-smoking equivalent.
“After receiving users’ comments, Weibo decided to remove the ‘cool’ emoji from its international version, and [it] will soon be history for Weibo’s PC and mobile clients,” the company said in a statement.
The Beijing Tobacco Control Association applauded the move, saying it would help to give internet users a “positive and healthy space for discussion”. It also urged internet giant Tencent to remove its smoking emoji “as soon as possible” from its WeChat and QQ social platforms.
Tencent did not immediately respond to the Post’s request for comment.
Weibo users were largely dismissive of the move, with many arguing that the country should “stop producing cigarettes” instead of banning emojis, while others raced to post the emoji one last time.