Alibaba’s enterprise chat app DingTalk has what, for some, would be a conversation-stopping emoji: a dark-toned face with a squint of confusion and exaggerated, cartoonish lips.
The expression, which resembles racial caricatures of African Americans in the early 20th century, can be found at the bottom of DingTalk’s built-in emoji list. It’s unclear when it was added; although DingTalk notes the addition of new emojis in updates over the last two years, it doesn’t list this specific one. TechNode reporters first noted its appearance on Friday, Feb. 1.
The emoji’s expression and question marks are similar to the “Confused Nick Young” meme, which began gaining traction in 2014 after the American basketball player appeared in a YouTube web series. The image became popular not only on English-language social media but also in China, where the NBA has an avid following.
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