In news that’ll horrify teenagers and horny people everywhere, Facebook and Instagram has banned the use of *checks notes* “sexual” emojis. In other words, you can no longer pepper your messages with eggplant, peach and water drip emojis.
This ban isn’t some sort of weird crusade against eggplants and peaches. According to the updated Facebook and Instagram guidelines on “Sexual Solidification Community Standards” (via The Daily Dot), the social media giant is aiming to clamp down on instances of “sexual solicitation” through this emoji ban.
Specifically, Facebook will implement bans “when content facilitates, encourages or coordinates sexual encounters between adults”. There are two sections this criteria will fall under:
- A user must either “implicitly or indirectly” offer sexual communication, “nude imagery”, “sex”, or “sex chat conversations”.
- Or have some form of “sexual suggestive elements” in their post.
So while you can still use eggplant, peach and water drop emojis in a “normal” conversation, using them as a reference to anything sexual or to cheekily cover up nude body parts will result in a blow from the ban hammer.
No need to worry, vegans and vegetarians, your emoji usage won’t be affected too much.
While this ban will be a big blow to horny people who don’t like to use sentences, it is more of a concern to the adult content creators and sex workers who use Facebook and Instagram for their business as it’ll not only restrict the posts they can share but it’ll make them more exposed to harassment from pearl-clutching anti-porn crusaders.
This weird ban comes at a time where Facebook is copping heavy criticism for not doing enough to regulate the swaths of racism, propaganda and fake news that’s flooding its platform. Surely the company has more important things to worry about than hidden sexual meanings of fruit and vegetable emojis.
So to those who are using eggplant, peach and water drop emojis in a, uh, “sexual” manner, you’re going to have to think of a new way to convey your horniness without using fruit and vegetable symbols.