The Russian tech giant Yandex will no longer offer a poop emoji among the labels that users can choose to mark places on its “Maps Emoji.”
Yandex launched its “Maps Emoji” project on Monday, which allows users to label places with a combination of three emojis. People quickly gravitated toward the more suggestive characters, tagging the Kremlin with emojis representing a monkey, money with wings and a toilet.
Zaryadye Park, where security cameras recently caught an unprecedented number of couples having sex, was labeled by users with an eggplant, a punching hand and sweat drop emoijs.
On Wednesday, Yandex said the popular poop, monkey and toilet emojis were removed because the project was still experimenting with which images to offer.
“The essence of the experiment is to describe places and share impressions about them using different emojis,” the tech firm told The Village website.
Outside Russia, users marked cities like Edinburgh with two dark-skinned policemen and a money-with-wings emojis. The city of Paradise, outside Las Vegas, was labeled with a money with wings, a slot machine, and a dancer emoji.
Greenwood Village, Colorado, meanwhile, was tagged with a maple leaf emoji wedged between smiley faces wearing sunglasses and a halo, while Italy’s Napoli was labeled with three pizza slices.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.
