Why is Pepe the Frog meme emoji in Microsoft Teams raising eyebrows?

Microsoft is internally testing a new feature for its Teams communication platform that would allow users to add custom emojis, including the controversial Pepe the Frog meme.

Sources tell The Verge that Microsoft employees discovered the new capability after animated Pepe emoji appeared in reactions and messages on early internal versions of Teams. These emotes, commonly used on platforms like Discord and Twitch, appeared alongside other custom emojis not currently available in Teams.

Microsoft is currently testing the feature in limited “dogfood” versions of Teams, meaning employees use it before public release. Teams currently only support official Unicode emoji and GIFs through Giphy, separate from the in-chat and video call emoji panel.

While widely used playfully today, the cartoon frog was co-opted by white supremacist groups several years ago, leading the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) to add it to their hate symbol database in 2016.

However, the ADL later partnered with Pepe’s creator to reclaim the symbol from hateful uses, and the meme is now more commonly seen as a lighthearted reaction in online communities. The ADL emphasizes the importance of contextual understanding when encountering Pepe memes, stating that using the meme itself doesn’t necessarily indicate racist or white supremacist views.

Microsoft hasn’t officially announced custom emojis for Teams, and the feature remains in early testing. The company did acknowledge the highly requested feature’s addition to a backlog of new features seven months ago. Given the popularity of custom emojis in platforms like Slack and Discord, it will likely reach all Teams users in 2024.

Concerns remain regarding the potential misuse of custom emojis, particularly those with historically charged connotations like Pepe the Frog.

If the feature rolls out publicly, Microsoft will likely implement admin controls like those found in Discord and Slack, allowing organizations to manage and approve new custom emojis within their Teams environments.