Elon Musk’s X Replaces Water Pistol Emoji With One Of A Firearm
Photo 245548638 © enchanted _fairy | Dreamstime.com
Looks like X is packing some heat—and you can almost smell the smoke. Elon Musk’s “everything” social media platform has ditched the playful water pistol emoji and replaced it with a more realistic depiction.
Specifically, the graphic portrays a classic M1911 handgun. The news came via a post by an X employee.
here's a before and after pic.twitter.com/ilH4GYFCr1
— kache (@yacineMTB) July 18, 2024
This isn’t the first time the gun emoji has been caught in a crossfire. Originally, it resembled an actual firearm. But in 2016, Apple opted for a more kid-friendly approach, swapping the weapon for a water pistol. This trend quickly spread, with Google, Facebook, and Microsoft following suit. The Unicode Consortium, the governing body for emojis, even officially changed the name to ‘Water Pistol’.
update announcement 📢
— kache (@yacineMTB) July 18, 2024
on x dot com (the website), the gun emoji was returned back into its rightful form: an m1911
🔫🔫🔫🔫🔫🔫🔫🔫🔫 https://t.co/FlXJtOpU3H pic.twitter.com/cqd7KHcxUJ
Musk himself confirmed the change and its upcoming mobile rollout. Neither him nor X, however, has provided an official explanation for the reversion.
Fixed on web, soon to be fixed in rendering on mobile!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 18, 2024
[via Emojipedia, Mashable, Android Police, images via various sources]
