Emoji-Infused Agreements: Unveiling their Contractual Validit

29th August, 2024 - 9:09 am Categories: Digital Media 0 Comments

Introduction

According to the guidelines outlined in the Indian Contract Act of 1872, legally binding contracts must be entered into. E-contract execution has increased significantly in the age of electronic media and e-commerce. Contracts that are valid in court can be formed using the emojis that are prevalent in digital interactions. The legitimacy of e-contracts, the fundamental components of a contract’s construction, and the opinions of courts regarding the usage of emojis must all be understood before we can apply them to our question.

The Vital Role of Acceptance in Contract Creation

Following the notion of rules laid by the provision of the Indian Contract Act, of 1872, all agreements are contracts only if the consent of the parties competent to form the contract is taken voluntarily, for a lawful consideration and with a legitimate intent. Contract is always a mixture of agreement and legal enforceability.

Whenever there is a contract, there is a person who makes the offer to the other party to the contract and when that offer gets accepted, it becomes an agreement. Acceptance does not only portray validation of the contract but it also shows understanding between the two parties. It can also be understood better by the legal maxim i.e., consensus-ad-idem which simply means concurring with the other party.

Can the widespread use of emojis be practically applied?

Top of Form

Before reaching the point of relevance of emojis in the contract, let’s get a brief idea about what emojis are and how they made up their way in the digital era. 

Emojis are generally small pictorial representations of icons which are used to express an idea or emotion. Emojis depict the perception of an individual’s feelings which are again very subjective. Every individual uses emojis as per their understanding of the situation and how would have they expressed their feelings. Emojis were created for the very first time in Japan by Shigetaka Kurita in 1999.

With the growth in infrastructure and technology of the world, there came into existence different digital media platforms where it was very easy to connect with people around the globe just by sitting at your home and with that step, gadgets were also revolutionised which brought computers and smartphones into the picture. So, to catch up with the trend, people around the globe started to use these media platforms and devices which contained lots and lots of emojis hence resulting in easy accessibility of it and by this means, emojis came into a broader frame. More than 3500 emojis are prevailing in today’s time.

But did anyone think that emojis would be so important that they could even form a contract in future? No, right but with the pace of the world towards modernisation, the different kinds of gadgets and digital platforms have become an important part of society. People were able to form e-contracts just by the use of emojis globally. For example: A thumbs-up emoji can just mean an acknowledgement to the person. But does it mean that there is no other interpretation of emojis? The above-mentioned example might be understood as an acknowledgement but it can also be understood as carrying on or going ahead to other persons. So, it will not be clear to state emojis under the terms of the contract, though the contract is an umbrella term but including emojis in it is on a whim.

The Global Perspective on Emojis in Legal Contexts

There have been different contexts globally wherein the ambiguity relating to the use of emojis in Contracts was made clear.

In the case of South West Terminal Ltd. (plaintiff) and Achter Land & Cattle Ltd (Defendant) the question of “whether a thumbs-up emoji assents to a legal contract?” came into the hands of the judiciary.

However, T.J. Keene, (Honourable Justice), accepted that though using a thumbs-up emoji to sign a document is an unconventional means despite that following the circumstances of this case, it was considered a valid way to convey the two intentions of “signature” that is to identify and express the acceptance of flax contract. The court moving forward with the case, also stated that the flax contract in the case has satisfied the terms of the Sales of Goods Act, RSS 1978.

There was also a past instance wherein the French court pronounced guilty Bilal Azougagh, a 22-year-old boy after he bombarded his ex with 22,000 messages including a gun emoji the court stated that the gun emoji as an image to death threat sentencing the man 6 months of imprisonment.

[Image Sources: Shutterstock]

There comes another case dealing with the same usage of emojis in Tamil Nadu where the Madras High Court heard a criminal complaint against 46 BSNL employees, an Indian Telecom Company when they flooded the WhatsApp group with LOL emojis. Frustrated with this, another BSNL employee filed a complaint against 46 of them. The complainant listed out various provisions and legislations stating the offence under them such as Information Technology Act. 2000, The Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment Women Act and the SC, ST Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act, 2015. The case was heard by Single Judge Bench S.S. Sundar and the court stated that” Emoji is sent to express one’s feelings about something and cannot be treated as an overt act by others.”

Issues Stemming from Unique Scenarios of Each Case

Every case carries its essence of law the application of law is different in every situation. There are many provisions existing which answer questions relating to the moral subject of law but in the case of Contracts, everything rotates in and round with the concept of formation and execution of contract. Hence, the court needs to substantially dive into the interpretation of the application of law as per the facts. The main points which contained an evident role in the above-mentioned cases and which also need to be looked after by the court every time are;

• Whether the individuals employing an emoji from a specific device possess authorization for its official use?
• Whether there might be a scenario where an unauthorised individual, having access to the device, inadvertently sends the emoji?

Conclusion

The idea that emoji usage must be done carefully to avoid any legal snags seems a touch over the top. The news about emojis being accepted as part of a contract is making waves around the world. Emojis dominate the world of digital communications, and their widespread use is a recognised fact. Emojis can be interpreted as genuine communication, thus it’s okay to use caution when using them, particularly in legal situations including criminal charges. However, when it comes to contractual cases, the usage of emojis by itself is insufficient to establish the existence of a contract. But as far as contractual cases are considered, the use of emojis solely cannot prove the fact of contract formation. It is pertinent to note that contractual transactions comprise many important and inevitable factors that include communication of the offer and its acceptance, consensus-ad-idem, intention to create a legal relationship, free consent, lawful object and lawful consideration and express validity under law. It can be concluded that the use of emojis has begun to gain legal legitimacy; nevertheless, there is still a long way to go before emojis are fully recognised in business dealings, just as they are in email correspondence. Emoji usage should consequently be exercised caution; nevertheless, this does not imply that they are widely used. Emoji usage and legislation are still in their infancy, but as society continues to grow technologically, we will see a dynamic implementation of this rule in the future.

Author:  Tanmay Vijay, in case of any queries please contact/write back to us via email to chhavi@khuranaandkhurana.com or at  Khurana & Khurana, Advocates and IP Attorney.