Use of Graphic Symbols (Emojis) in the Context of Proposals to Meet a Child under Article 156¹ of the Criminal Code of Ukraine

The article attempts to provide a criminal law assessment of the use of graphic symbols, such as emojis, as a possible form of meeting proposal in the solicitation of a child for sexual purposes, which is punishable under Article 156¹ of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The author concludes that defining the term “meeting proposal” as “expression of intent” does not fully capture the nature of the act in question, necessitating the search for a more appropriate lexicon. Such a lexeme is proposed to be understood as a “communicative act”, which is a relatively neutral description that is general enough to cover a diverse range of verbal and non-verbal sexual communication tools. From this perspective, it is reasonable to suggest that graphic elements, such as emojis, can be interpreted as a non-verbal expression of a meeting proposal; they are neither conjunctive nor mimetic. This suggests that they are a visual and symbolic manifestation of the proposal to meet. However, the author states that such symbols cannot be used independently for the legal assessment of an action, such as offering to meet, since they do not convey content in a sufficiently unambiguous way. Therefore, relevant behaviour can only be qualified under Article 1561 of the Criminal Code as the solicitation of a child for sexual purposes if relevant verbal information is present. Given this, the author concludes that regulating the use of graphic symbols (including emojis) as a means of proposing a meeting under Article 1561 of the Criminal Code is potentially an unacceptable solution, as it could lead to an overly broad interpretation of the provisions of the aforementioned article.