Smiley faces on messages not a laughing matter, expert warns

WHO would have thought sending a smiley face or thumbs-up emoji could land you in trouble legally?

Seemingly innocent emojis attached to an instant message or e-mail can potentially lead to you being bound by unwanted contracts and held liable for damages, insurance and risk specialist Risk Benefit Solutions legal adviser Johannes du Plessis has warned.

“Many individuals negotiate lease agreements with landlords or agents, or make purchase and sale agreements with sellers they found in newspaper or website classifieds,” he said.

“Placing a thumbs up, smiley face, bottle of champagne, dancing figures, sunshine, rainbow, heart, or any other emoticon which creates the impression of positivity, acceptance or agreement in the mind of the receiver, might result in the conclusion of a legal contract,” he said.

This could result in the sender being bound as if he had the will and intention to enter into the contract.

“Should you then breach the contract, you may become liable to the other party for possible damages,” Du Plessis said.

The Electronic Communications and Transactions Act provides that contracts concluded wholly or partly by a data message are valid in law.

He said some cases had already come before the courts which demonstrated the risks of careless messages.

“In one case, during lease negotiations, an instant message user sent a smiley, a bottle of champagne and dancing figures to a landlord who was advertising a property for rent.

“As a result, the landlord removed his online advertisement.

“The court stated that these emoticons conveyed to the landlord that everything was in order, and that the message was misleading.

“The sender was subsequently ordered to compensate the landlord for the landlord’s loss of prospective rental income.”