Apple responds to outrage over emoji that appears when typing ‘Jerusalem’ on iPhone
IndependentJAN 2024
Apple to Fix Jerusalem-Palestinian Flag Predictive Emoji Bug
Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images News via Getty Images
The Spin
Narrative A
While emoji flags appear when iPhone users type a country's name, this feature doesn't usually extend to city names. So, when the word Jerusalem prompts a Palestinian flag emoji, it's hard not to see that as another example of antisemitic double standards — especially as emoji defaults in iOS require deliberate human intervention.
Narrative B
The outrage against Apple over the Palestinian flag emoji is nothing but a baseless tempest in a teapot. According to the company's support pages, its automatically generated predictive text features use machine learning and other technologies based on past conversations and visited websites.