Published: Just now
Joking on social media requires tact.
This week, a tweet has caused the German government to apologize to the African Union.
The reason: A leopard emoji.
Emojis are often called an international language, a way to get past the barriers of letters.
But the small symbols can give room for misinterpretation – something that the German government experienced yesterday.
It all started with a tweet from the German Foreign Ministry – the purpose of which was to make fun of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov who is currently on tour in Africa.
They wrote that Lavrov was not looking for leopards, but trying to claim that Ukraine and their partners want to destroy “everything Russian” – and the joke was that there is no evidence for that.
But the tweet, which swapped the word leopard for a leopard emoji, also alluded to Germany’s decision to send some of its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine.
It caused many to react.
Ebba Kalondo, spokesperson for the African Union Commission President in the African Union, thought the leopard emoji alluded to an outdated image used to illustrate Africa.
She pointed out that foreign policy is not a joke, and that it is certainly not welcome to illustrate the whole of Africa with colonial metaphors.
In a sour response, she asked if German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock had also only “looked at animals” when she was in Ethiopia earlier this year.
“Or is the continent of Africa, its people and wildlife a joke to you?”
“Thought of another breed of leopard”
Zainab Usman, who works at the respected Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank in Washington, also reacted strongly.
“Using terrible African stereotypes (Africa is just vast landscapes with wild animals in the bush) to score geopolitical points and slap an opponent in a European war will not win you African friends. Tone deaf! Get better!”
The German Foreign Ministry responded to her with an apology.
They wrote that they were thinking of another “breed of German leopards” – which made them miss the obvious connotation, and that their main point was to expose Russia’s lies.