This Is The Brilliant Secret Meaning Behind Apple’s Strange New Eye Emoji

Remember about a month ago when Apple slipped in a creepy new “eye in speech bubble” emoji into i0S 9.1?

A move that sent everybody into an Orwellian frenzy as they tried to second guess their mysterious motives: was it a clue that Apple were really about to turn into Big Brother, a stark warning of the dreary future ahead?

No. It was something much better, something brilliant.

The emoji is dedicated to helping those that have been bullied or harmed by others, helping victims via social media and text messages. It gives them a one stop symbol that calls out cruelty and bullying by saying “I Am A Witness.”

Which is quite brilliant.

The whole thing is part of an anti-bullying initiative called I Am A Witness launched by the non-profit organisation Ad Council, which specialises in creating public service campaigns.

Working with the likes of Apple, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Adobe and Johnson & Johnson, the campaign hopes to open a conversation around cyber bullying, melding a very modern call to action that includes Snapchat filters and Tumblr pages.

CEO of the Ad Council Lisa Sherman said:

“Hopefully what we end up creating is a collective of people who go from being passive bystanders to a group of united and empowered people standing up to speak out against bullying.”

Here, here.