Key Takeaways:
- Cryptocurrency exchange Binance released a new Twitter Swastika emoji on Hitler's Birthday
- The branded hashtag emoji resembled the symbol used by the Nazi party
- The company deleted the tweet and offered an apology after being trolled by netizens
YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com) –The world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange Binance is back in the news for all the wrong reasons again. In a bizarre and unfortunate incident, the company released a swastika emoji on Twitter. People associate the symbol with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party. Anti Semitics and hate groups also use the swastika in their activities. Moreover, the emoji was to be a branded hashtag, which means it would appear every time someone tweeted with the hashtag #Binance.
While some Twitter users were shocked, many were outraged at the company’s insensitive use of the symbol. However, others did not find it surprising given the exchange’s reputation. In 2017, the cryptocurrency exchange published another post with reference to the Jewish Holocaust while releasing their GAS tokens.
To make matters worse, the company released the branded hashtag emoji on Hitler’s birthday. The German dictator was born on April 20, 1889, and died on April 30, 1945. The date the company chose to release the emoji, unless intentional, was an unfortunate coincidence. Hitler and his Nazi party exterminated around 6 million Jews between 1941 and 1945.
The Swastika is also an ancient, sacred symbol still venerated in some eastern religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism.
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Binance deletes the swastika emoji and issues an apology
After netizens began to troll the company for the emoji, Binance deleted the tweet of the swastika emoji and promised to update their branded emoji. However, some people pointed out that it is unlikely to have been just an innocent mistake, accusing the company of trying to use the day to its advantage.
“Well that was obviously really embarrassing. 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,”
they wrote.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao also issued a statement on Twitter. He blamed an unnamed intern for the mistake, although there is no way the company would entrust the official handle to an inexperienced trainee.
Moreover, company branding is one of the most important aspects handled by the marketing team. Deciding on a logo and finalizing a branded hashtag is hardly the job of an intern. It is highly unlikely nobody in the whole company, especially those who review such matters, would have noticed the symbol.
Back in November 2017, Binance had announced it would distribute “GAS” tokens on a banner displaying a Jewish six-pointed star symbolizing the Star of David. Hitler inhumanly killed millions of Jews in gas vans or in stationary gas chambers. By tweeting the star with the term ‘GAS’, people could not help but make the connection.
Binance deletes the swastika emoji and issues an apology
After netizens began to troll the company for the swastika emoji, Binance deleted the tweet and promised to update their branded emoji. However, some people pointed out that it is unlikely to have been just an innocent mistake, accusing the company of trying to use the day to its advantage.
“Well, that was obviously really embarrassing. 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,” they wrote.
Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao also issued a statement on Twitter. He blamed an unnamed intern for the mistake, although there is no way the company would entrust the official handle to an inexperienced trainee.
Moreover, company branding is one of the most important aspects that the marketing team handles. Deciding on a logo and finalizing a branded hashtag is hardly the job of an intern. It is highly unlikely nobody in the whole company, especially those who review such matters, would have noticed the symbol.
Back in November 2017, Binance had announced it would distribute “GAS” tokens on a banner displaying a six-pointed star symbolizing the Star of David. Hitler inhumanly killed millions of Jews in gas vans or in stationary gas chambers. By tweeting the star with the term GAS, people could not help but make the connection.
Meanwhile, the company has released a new branded hashtag emoji on Twitter. Needless to say, tweeting a swastika on Adolf Hitler’s birthday was insensitive.
