法院关注表情符号使用的法律地位

If your business partner sends you an OK emoji when you ask for an opinion about a contract, how would you understand its meaning?

如果你的商业伙伴在你就一份合同征求意见时给你发送了一个OK的表情符号，你会如何理解它的意思？

Does it signal agreement with the contract, or just that the message was received?
是表示同意合同，还是仅仅表示信息已收到？

People may have different understandings of the emoji, which is frequently used in online chats, and misinterpretations may result in disputes and have an impact on court rulings.
对于在网络聊天中被频繁使用的表情符号，每个人可能会有不同理解，误解可能会导致纠纷，并影响法院裁决。

Given that emojis may easily cause ambiguity, judicial and internet professionals suggest people use them sparingly in online chats, especially when discussing contracts or conducting transactions.
鉴于表情符号容易造成歧义，司法和互联网专业人士建议在网上聊天时谨慎使用表情符号，尤其是在讨论合同或进行交易时。

Over the past five years, Chinese courts have handled 158 lawsuits involving online expressions, according to a statement recently posted by Jiangsu Provincial High People's Court on its WeChat account.
据江苏省高级人民法院微信账号近日发布的一份声明显示，在过去五年中，我国法院处理了158起涉及网络表情的案件。

It said the number of such cases rose from just eight in 2018 to 61 last year.
该机构表示，此类案件的数量从2018年的8起上升到2021年的61起。