CIA documents published by WikiLeaks show that the CIA kept a database of “Japanese style faces” to utilize in online forums.

The WikiLeaks data dump, which consists of 8,761 files and documents, was taken from a high-security isolated network situated inside the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia. Within the data dump a folder called “Japanese Style Faces” can be found. These consist of ASCII expressions designed to represent faces and emotions, commonly used on internet message boards to denote a particular reaction. Some of the faces are listed below.

¢‿¢

©¿© o

ª{•̃̾_•̃̾}ª

¬_¬

¯＼(º_o)/¯

¯\(º o)/¯

¯\_(⊙︿⊙)_/¯

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

°ω°

°Д°

°‿‿°

°ﺑ°

´ ▽ ` )ﾉ

¿ⓧ_ⓧﮌ

Ò,ó

ó‿ó

ô⌐ô

ôヮô

ŎםŎ

ŏﺡó

ʕ•̫͡•ʔ

ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

ʘ‿ʘ

˚•_•˚

˚⌇˚

˚▱˚

̿ ̿̿’̿’\̵͇̿̿\=(•̪●)=/̵͇̿̿/’̿̿ ̿ ̿ ̿

͡° ͜ʖ ͡°

Σ ◕ ◡ ◕

Some have hypothesized that these emoticons are designed to help CIA hackers infiltrate online communities, posing as normal users of internet message boards in order to collect data or possibly push a particular narrative.

Nate Church, Breitbart’s resident anime expert, spoke briefly about the emoticons saying, “The worst part about these “Japanese style” ASCII expressions, is that they’re not even very good. The majority of Japanese ASCII is meant to mimic the emotional shorthand used in both manga and anime. Any of these would stick out like a sore thumb in the communities for which they’re intended. What the CIA really needs is a dedicated weeb.”

The full list of “Japanese style faces” can be found here.