Animated emojis in python-telegram-bot work as stickers, not regular text messages. You’ll need to use send_sticker() instead. First, get someone to send the animated emoji to your bot, then grab the file_id from that message. Once you’ve got it, just use await context.bot.send_sticker(chat_id=chat_id, sticker=file_id) to send it. These work like premium stickers in Telegram, so make sure your bot and users’ accounts are set up right.