Juice box emoji's controversial meaning explained as ban looms

Questions have been raised by baffled TikTok users this week, following reports that the juice box emoji has been 'disallowed' for some users of the app.

For those unfamiliar with the tiny, seemingly-innocent animation, it depicts carton of a deep green, bearing a rosy red apple drawing on the front, with a straw protruding out of the top.

It was introduced to the standard Unicode Emoji keyboard back in 2019, and has been frequently used by social media users ever since.

Until recently, however, many chronically online individuals had no idea that the juice box emoji had a 'hidden', somewhat sinister meaning - other than simply depicting a fruity beverage.

And apparently, this secret reference is so controversial, it has resulted in the box being 'banned' by users of the popular clip-sharing app.

TikTok has reportedly implemented the measures (Getty Stock Image)

According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) - a US-based international non-governmental organisation, founded in 1913 in a bid to combat antisemitic, bigoted or discriminatory language - the juice box emoji has been used hatefully to reference Jewish people.

It is understood that this 'trend' started some years after the emojis introduction, with anti-semites relying on the phonetic similarity between the word 'juice' and the word 'Jews'.

As the ADL explains, in some cases, the emoji is seemingly being used to portray Jewish people in a negative light, by people 'espousing demonising rhetoric about the Jewish people while evading content moderation'.

This has reportedly included being used in anti-semitic merchandise, memes and social media posts, and has especially been the case in the midst of the crisis in the Middle East between Israel and Palestine.

The emoji has reportedly become associated with antisemitic speech (Apple)

Reports have since alleged that TikTok has put measures into place to see use of this animation on the platform in any capacity banned, with screenshots shared by users showing that attempted use of the emoji resulting in a 'violation'.

Users trying to add the animation to their content are being informed that they've been stopped due to rules on 'Antisemitism and Hate Speech'.

Strangely, however, in some cases, while informing the user that their attempted inclusion of the juice box emoji in a post, TikTok has been claiming the cartoon references 'alcohol, tobacco and drugs', or 'illicit substances', hence the confusion online.

A number of online users have since praised the notion of TikTok removing the use of the hotly-debated emoji, believing it vital to separate the world's Jewish popular from the war crimes occurring in the Middle East under the authority of the Israeli government, with the frequency of anti-semitic hate crimes steadily on the rise - especially in the US and UK (as per the BBC).

Attempts to use the emoji reportedly results in an antisemitism warning (TikTok)

"This is good, too many people are confusing judaism and zionism," one Instagram user wrote.

Another added: "Uh yeah its almost like you shouldn't be anti-semetic against a group thats done absolutely nothing wrong to society."

Tyla has contacted TikTok for comment.

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