Are EE and O2 really charging for sending emojis?

Rumours are spreading online that claim EE and O2 have just started charging users who add emoji icons to their text messages, and as a result can charge you up to 40p per message.

The warning, which is spreading prolifically on Facebook, is below –

EE & 02 have started without notice to charge you for adding emojis onto your text, and billing you up to 40p a go as a MMS message.
You won’t be charged if it’s sent via iMessage or whatsapp but the only way to stop your iphone from converting a message automatically into a MMS is to go into settings and turn MMS off on your iPhones.
Let your friends know as I reckon there’s going to be some huge bills received until people realise.

TL:DR The warning contains a mixture of both truth and mistruth, probably as a result of the authors limited knowledge on what is happening. Most modern phones will not charge you for sending emojis, though some older phones may do. There are other variables to consider as well. It is certainly worth checking.

Firstly, the assertion that mobile providers EE and O2 have “just started” charging users for using emojis “without warning” is false. There have been no recent changes in how either network charges users.

So, will I be charged for including emojis in my messages?

This depends on what phone you use and what emojis you are trying to send. Basically it boils down to one factor – does your phone support the emoji you are trying to send in SMS mode, or does it need to convert the message into MMS mode?

SMS (short message service) mode is the standard text messaging mode that is included in most monthly data contract packages (i.e. 200 text messages per month) or they cost around 10p for Pay As You Go users.

MMS (multimedia message service) mode is used for sending multimedia content like videos or images. However these are not usually included in monthly data packages and both EE and O2 charge 40 English pennies for each message, providing it is within a certain limit.

Most modern phones support a wide variety of emojis in SMS mode. If this is the case, there would be no additional costs for sending messages that contain these emojis.

Some older phones may only support a limited number of emojis in SMS mode and trying to send unsupported emojis will result in the message being converted to MMS, thus incurring additional charges.

Other older phones may not be able to support any emojis in SMS mode at all, in which case the message is converted to MMS mode and additional charges are incurred.

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Most phones will warn the user if the message will be converted to MMS mode, where extra charges would be incurred.

There are a number ways you can find out if your particular phone supports emojis in SMS mode. Of course you can contact your handset manufacturer for more information, or on some phones you can check if your messaging screen is reporting on the number of characters you have used (e.g. 203/2 – 203 chars, 2 messages) which would be SMS mode – or the size of the message (e.g. 4KB) which would be MMS mode.

Given that it is true that many mobile apps like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger support free multimedia messaging (providing they don’t take you over your monthly data limit) then you may want to consider disabling MMS since many people do not use it, in which case for iPhone users you can follow the instructions on the original message. Most Android phone users can disable this option as well.

So the warning does contain truth to it, though if you have a modern phone you should be able to send emojis through text message without additional charges. Certainly worth a check, we think, otherwise you could wind up getting a £1,200 phone bill like this woman!