All news, BSC News

“Well that was really embarrassing” – Binance pulls back swastika-like Twitter emoji after public outrage

Posted on by admin
Binance 1200x600 1
22
Apr

Image courtesy of Binance Twitter page

  • Binance unveiled a new emoji on Twitter that depicted a block with its logo surrounded by four pixelated arms each bent at a right angle.
  • There was an outcry from the public, with some noting its resemblance to the swastika symbol which was linked to the Nazis, especially since it was Adolf Hitler’s birthday.

Binance has found itself in the middle of regulatory limbo the world over in the past two years, but its most recent incident was entirely self-inflicted. The exchange attracted public outcry over a Twitter emoji that resembled the swastika symbol and it had to take it down quickly.

Twitter allows companies and brands to design their own emojis to promote themselves on the platform. Binance, just as with many other multi-billion dollar firms has designed emojis in the past, but its latest attempt didn’t sit well with the Twitter-verse.

It was a double tragedy for Binance after users noted the resemblance to the Nazi symbol, and to compound the problem, the exchange unveiled the emoji on April 20 – Adolf Hitler’s birthday.

Upon being called out for its mistake, Binance took down tweets containing its ill-fated emoji from its Twitter account as well as that of its CEO and founder Changpeng Zhao. However, many users had already captured screenshots of the tweets and they were making rounds on social media.

The exchange later acknowledged the error in judgment, tweeting to its 8.4 million followers:

We’re not sure how that emoji got through several layers of review without anyone noticing, but we immediately flagged the issue, pulled it down, and the new emoji design is being rolled out as we speak.

While in the West the swastika symbol is linked to Nazis and the terror they unleashed under the leadership of Hitler, it has a much more different symbolism in the East, which is the birthplace of Binance and home to many of its developers and executives. Within the Buddhist and Hindu communities, it symbolizes the footprints of the Buddha and the four Vedas respectively.

The exchange has retained the title of being the world’s largest for years now. In the past 24 hours, it facilitated $18.1 billion in spot trading and $56.3 billion in derivatives trading.  As CNF reported today, it has had to place new restrictions on its users in Russia following new sanctions by Europe against the Vladimir Putin-led country.

Read More: Binance imposes new restriction for Russia following EU sanctions

admin