Non-profit group, New Yorkers Against Gun Violence launched a social media campaign #DisarmTheiPhone last week to further raise the issue of gun violence by calling on Apple to remove the emoji from iPhone keyboards.
The campaign website encourages visitors to tweet Apple’s CEO to “help convince Apple to remove the gun emoji and take a stand for stricter gun accessibility in America.” The website also posts an open letter to the tech powerhouse claiming, “We love what you do…there’s just one thing we don’t like. And we’re writing you in hopes of gaining your support.” The letter calls out that 33,000 American deaths are caused by gun violence each year and claims that many Americans unknowingly carry a gun with them everyday – on their phone: the gun emoji.
The group claims to have targeted Apple specifically as it, “should be concerned with the toll that gun violence inflicts across America,” said NYAGV Executive Director, Leah Barnett.