On 27 August 2020, in what seems to be the first Australian
decision of its kind, Her Honour Judge Gibson considered the
meaning of the "zipper face" emoji in the context of
defamation.
The Plaintiff in Burrows v Houda [2020]
NSWDC 485 brought
defamation proceedings arising out of a Twitter exchange with the
Defendant. In response to a question "but what happened to
her since?" the Defendant tweeted :.
In the context of an interlocutory application to amend the
Statement of Claim, Her Honour was required to determine what this
"zipper-mouth face" emoji means.
She first asked herself whether it is appropriate for a judge to
determine a meaning based on an emoji without the benefit of expert
evidence, or jury input. She did not consider expert evidence
necessary.
