Indian court serves notice to Google for listing PM Modi among Top 10 Criminals

A court in India has issued a notice to the search giant, Google, for listing the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, among the “Top 10 Criminals of the world”.

If you searched for the phrase “Top 10 Criminals of the world” on Google and went to Images, you would find your screen a jumble of images of Narendra Modi. It is in no way Google’s fault as google search listings are not decided by people; instead, they are ranked using algorithms, as stated by the company itself in a statement (attached below). However, that hasn’t stopped an advocate, Sushil Kumar Mishra, from filing a complaint against one of the biggest tech companies in the world.

The complainant says that he had already approached Google regarding the issue but didn’t get any response. The complaint, filed in a court in Allahabad, has also led to registration of a criminal complaint case against Google and its top officials. A hearing will be held on the 31st of August.

Is it really Google’s fault?

To put it simply, no, it isn’t Google’s fault. Google is a search engine and determine’s search results based on its algorithms. There is no personal opinion of Google officials or any third party involved in deciding who gets ranked where. Despite this, they have already received a lot of criticism for “listing” Narendra Modi under the top 10 criminals of the world.

“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. We apologise for any confusion or misunderstanding this has caused. We’re continually working to improve our algorithms to prevent unexpected results like this,” said a Google spokesperson in a statement last year.

To make it even more clear, they have even placed a disclaimer when you conduct the search.

Source— TimesOfIndia Image— IndianExpress