Israel

Apple to Fix Jerusalem-Palestinian Flag Predictive Emoji Bug

APR 12 2024·Updated APR 13 2024

Story

Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images News via Getty Images

The Facts

Apple has blamed a software bug for a Palestinian flag emoji being recommended when some iPhone users type "Jerusalem" in text, adding that the next iOS update will fix the glitch.
The Times of Israel
The iPhone manufacturer responded after British TV host Rachel Riley took to X (formerly Twitter) to call on the tech giant to explain whether the predictive emoji suggestion was intentional.
Forbes
While the latest update of Apple's iOS operating system was released on March 21, the glitch was only discovered recently. The company neither elaborated on the cause nor shared the availability of the next update.
CNN
The status of Jerusalem is one of several contentious issues in the Israel-Palestinian conflict, as both sides claim the city — home to holy sites for Jews, Muslims, and Christians — as their capital.
Business Insider
For Israelis, Jerusalem is their "eternal and undivided" capital and home to key government buildings. For Palestinians, East Jerusalem — which Israel allegedly annexed during the 1967 war — is the capital of their future state.
Times
Previously, Apple Maps had designated Moscow-controlled Crimea as part of Russia. Since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, users outside of Russia have been shown Crimea as part of Ukraine.
Al Jazeera

Sources Split

LEFT

CENTER

RIGHT

ESTAB
CRIT

CENTER

PRO
ESTAB

The Spin

Narrative A

While emoji flags appear when iPhone users type a country's name, this feature doesn't usually extend to city names. So, when the word Jerusalem prompts a Palestinian flag emoji, it's hard not to see that as another example of antisemitic double standards — especially as emoji defaults in iOS require deliberate human intervention.

Daily Mail

Narrative B

The outrage against Apple over the Palestinian flag emoji is nothing but a baseless tempest in a teapot. According to the company's support pages, its automatically generated predictive text features use machine learning and other technologies based on past conversations and visited websites.

Independent