Farmer fined Rs 50 lakh for sending thumbs-up emoji

A farmer from Canada has gotten into trouble for responding with a positive gesture in the form of an emoji to a prospective purchaser of his crops. Chris Achter, a farmer situated in Saskatchewan, Canada, utilized the thumbs-up emoji to express gratitude for receiving a contract that was sent to him through a text message.

Nevertheless, a judge has determined that the emoji constituted a legally binding agreement and an electronic signature. According to the BBC, the judge imposed a substantial penalty on Achter due to their inability to uphold their end of the agreement.

The Canadian farmer is now required to hand over C$82,000 (equivalent to around Rs 50 lakh) to the grain purchaser Kent Mickleborough, who had sent him the agreement to buy 86 metric tons of flax for the year 2021.

Mickleborough mentioned that he had a conversation with Achter via telephone regarding the acquisition of the grain. Subsequent to the telephonic discussion, he proceeded to forward the farmer a preliminary version of a legal agreement, where he included the phrase "kindly verify the flax contract".

Achter replied with a positive emoji signal but was unable to complete the request on the designated day. The agriculturist mentioned that his emoji "merely acknowledged that I obtained the flax agreement. It did not indicate my acceptance of the conditions."

Nevertheless, Mickleborough asserts that he had a extensive professional connection with Achter and he interpreted the thumbs-up emoji as a sign of agreement on Achter's part. Justice Timothy Keene sided with Mickleborough and imposed a penalty on Achter for not meeting the terms of the agreement.

The judge, Justice Keene, acknowledged that using a thumbs-up emoji as a way to 'sign' a document is unconventional. However, he still believed that it was an acceptable method in this particular situation to fulfill the two functions of a 'signature'.