SAN FRANCISCO (Diya TV) — An Indian district court has issued notice to Google, its chief executive Sundar Pichai and its India head for portraying Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the search query, “Top 10 Criminals.”
An example can be seen in the image below, displayed are the results from typing the search into the Google engine.
The discussion topic was first raised in June 2015 when The Independentfirst discovered the search results — the tech giant subsequently apologized for the search results, saying it was due to “a British daily publishing an image of Modi with erroneous metadata.” A disclaimer still sits atop the search results, stating, “These results don’t reflect Google’s opinion or our beliefs; our algorithms automatically matched the query to web pages with these images.”
However, Additional District Judge Mahtab Ahmed this week issued the orders, which came to light after a petition filed by Sushil Mishra, a Modi loyalist, said the search results are a defamation of the Indian leader.
A hearing is scheduled to take place on Aug. 31.
Mishra has reportedly written to Google in the past to have the search results modified, but no response has ever been given, he said in his complaint. The advocate even went to the police, who also did not register the case, post which he moved an application before the CJM.
The other popular Indians who came up in the search result for ‘Top 10 Criminals’ back in 2015 when Modi’s face was first discovered on the query included Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt. Now, Bollywood actor Salman Khan’s face also appears in the query.
Google apologized for the 2015 incident by saying: “We apologize for any confusion or misunderstanding this has caused.”
“These results trouble us and are not reflective of the opinions of Google. Sometimes, the way images are described on the internet can yield surprising results to specific queries,” a spokesperson added at the time.
