Starting today, the "Smoking Man" in Tencent QQ on the mobile phone has officially "quit smoking", and his expression representing "leisure" has changed from holding a cigarette butt to biting a green leaf. This is another social platform that has removed the smoking emoticon after Weibo removed it. We learned from the Beijing Tobacco Control Association that the association had previously sent a letter to Tencent, hoping to change the emoticon package with the "smoking" symbol. The Beijing Tobacco Control Association applauds the removal of smoking emoticons from the QQ mobile client and hopes that social platforms such as WeChat will also remove them as soon as possible.
In mid-September this year, Weibo took the lead in replacing its smoking emoticon, which represents "cool". Zhang Jianshu, president of the Beijing Smoking Control Association, said: "Smoking is not cool at all, and it is extremely inappropriate to equate smoking with cool propaganda. We appreciate the removal of the smoking emoticon on Weibo."
Today In the morning, QQ on mobile also officially removed the smoking emoticon. We learned from the Beijing Smoking Control Association that the association had written to Tencent, reflecting the inappropriate behavior of defining smoking emoticons as "leisurely" on WeChat and Tencent QQ, and suggested that WeChat and QQ take action.
The Beijing Tobacco Control Association believes that smoking is a disease called tobacco dependence, which can lead to malignant tumors and other chronic diseases, as well as reproductive and developmental abnormalities. It is obviously wrong to equate smoking, a behavior that reduces the quality of life, with "cool" or "laid back".
In addition, the main users of social media are young people, and equating smoking with "cool" or "laid back" may induce smoking. The Tobacco Control Association expressed its approval for the removal of smoking emoticons from QQ on the mobile phone, and looked forward to the web version, QQ on the computer, and WeChat taking action as soon as possible.