The Judge in this case took to dictionary.com for the definition of the emoji symbol and although he admitted that the “thumbs-up” is a non-traditional means to sign a document, he also indicated that, due to the new reality with how people express themselves, the “thumbs-up” emoji is just as valid as a signature.
Canadian judge rules the thumbs up emoji counts as a contract agreement
Emoji’s have been around since the 1990’s and if you have ever used a computer or a cell phone, then in all likelihood you’ve used an emoji in some fashion. Starting out simply as symbols for smiley or frown faces, the emoji has evolved into over 3,600 emojis of facial expressions, objects, places, animals, food, weather, etc., all used to represent some type of emotional genre instead of using word phrases. I honestly cannot think of any conversation I have, including the workplace, where I don’t use some sort of emoji at least once during the day. Most of the time, an emoji is inserted into a conversation and the conversation goes on without thinking twice about the emoji used to react or respond. Take for instance the “thumbs-up” emoji. It is widely used to mean “okay,” “agree,” “yes;” essentially, an approval, nothing more, nothing less (sometimes people will use it sarcastically, but for this article, we are going with the positive response).
Case in point: Canada. In March of 2021, a grain buyer at South West Terminal sent a mass text to his clients stating that the company wanted to buy 86 tons of flax at a price of $13 a bushel. A farmer responded, and the buyer spoke with a farmer over the phone and later texted a picture of a contract that indicated the farmer would deliver the flax later in November. In the text, the buyer asked the farmer to “please confirm flax contract.” The farmer responded to the text with a “thumbs-up” emoji. November arrived, and the farmer did not deliver the agreed upon flax. Even more, the price of flax had increased since the phone and text communications.
We all know what happens next. The buyer ended up suing the farmer, taking him to Court. In the proceedings, the farmer disputed that he had agreed to the contract in the text message, and what he agreed to was an acknowledgement that he had received the text. However, that argument didn’t bide well by the Court, as the buyer and farmer had a longstanding relationship and that when the buyer texted the farmer in the past for contracts for sale and delivery of other products, the farmer responded by texting back “looks good,” “ok,” and “yup” and the farmer fulfilled his end of those particular contracts.
The Judge in this case took to dictionary.com for the definition of the emoji symbol and although he admitted that the “thumbs-up” is a non-traditional means to sign a document, he also indicated that, due to the new reality with how people express themselves, the “thumbs-up” emoji is just as valid as a signature. He ordered that the contract was valid, and the farmer had to pay the buyer $61,000.
Thank goodness this was in Canada. What is interesting though is, as of October 2022, there have been 45 court opinions in the United States relating to the “thumbs-up” emoji. The important lesson in all of this? Use your “thumbs-up” wisely, no matter what country you are in.
