The new version of DingTalk, a team-cooperating application backed by Alibaba, was highlighted by a blackface emoji which was questionably racist. The controversial emoji was based on the virally circulated sticker, a photo of a confused looking Nick Young, which has been greatly favored by Chinese social media platforms. Emoji culture has long been a sentimental topic which has bewildered leading tech giants including Apple and Microsoft. With missteps like these, DingTalk could face more than just language barriers in its effort to attract international enterprises. The company’s representative denied the racial connotation and responded that the emoji “was meant to reflect the appreciation young people have for cultures around the world”.
