Can a Thumbs-Up Emoji Create a Binding Contract in Canada?
A Saskatchewan court treated a thumbs-up emoji as acceptance in context, showing that informal digital messages can create contracts.
In 2021, a grain buyer in Saskatchewan sent a farmer a photograph of a contract to deliver flax, with a short message asking him to confirm. The farmer replied with a single thumbs-up emoji. When the flax never arrived and the market had moved, the buyer sued, and a court held that the thumbs-up was a binding acceptance of the contract's terms. The farmer argued the emoji meant only that he had received the document, not that he agreed to it. The court disagreed. The deal was enforceable, and the farmer was ordered to pay roughly $82,000. The case is South West Terminal Ltd.
Opening this article…