A Canadian farmer was ordered to pay more than 82,000 Canadian dollars (about 62,000 U.S. dollars) in damages because a judge ruled that a thumbs-up emoji was enough to agree to contract terms.
Chris Achter, owner of an agricultural business in Swift Current, Saskatchewanhad sent one of these symbols in response to a photograph of a flax purchase contract sent to it by a grain buyer in 2021.
A few months later, when the time for delivery arrived, the buyer – who had been dealing with Achter for several years – did not agree to receive the linen.
This sparked a dispute that led to an intense search for cases in Israel, in the state of new York and some courts in Canada to understand what an emoji with this image means, according to the June court ruling published in local media this week.
The buyer, South West Terminalalleged that the symbol implied acceptance of the terms of the contract, while Achter said he used it only to indicate that he had received the contract, but not to endorse the agreement.
During a trial, the judge TJ Keene He said: “I am satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that Chris gave the go-ahead or approved the contract as he had previously, except this time he used a thumbs-up emoji.”
“In my opinion, the signature requirement was satisfied with the thumbs-up emoji created by Chris and his unique cell phone,” Keene said.
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