Ripple around #Top10Criminals on twitter as Google search shows Modi as one of world's top ten criminals
It was “trending” on twitter at the very top on Wednesday for the whole day: Comments for and against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a virtual non-issue: A Google image search “top 10 criminals” leads one find that Modi appears once but twice as one of the top dozen criminals!
Every minute, tens of tweets poured in for the whole day on Wednesday, with some of them saying that it was “shameful” for a top search engine to put Modi as one of the top ten criminals in the world, while others commenting, “World knows it now”!
Interestingly, tweeting continued to bombard, with #Top10Criminals becoming the top trending event for most of the day. One of tweeters, Shekhar@MangoBwoy said, “True Modi being criminal is a private matter of BJP why Google meddling”. Sounding neutral, the twitteratti quoted from what appeared to be the Google explanation on the “top 10 criminals”, which said, “Sometimes Google search results from the internet can include disturbing content, even from innocuous queries.”
Google has been further quoted as saying, “We assure you that the views expressed on by such sites are in no way endorsed by Google”. The California based company explains “Top 10 Criminals” with Modi appearing twice in the image section as follows: “Search results rely on computer algorithms that take into account thousand of factors.”
Google adds, “The beliefs and preferences of those who work at Google, as well the opinions of the general public, do not determine or impact our search results.” And since the “integrity of its search results is extremely important… accordingly, we not remove a page from our search results simply because its content is unpopular or because we receive complaints concerning it.”
Interestingly, tweeting continued to bombard, with #Top10Criminals becoming the top trending event for most of the day. One of tweeters, Shekhar@MangoBwoy said, “True Modi being criminal is a private matter of BJP why Google meddling”. Sounding neutral, the twitteratti quoted from what appeared to be the Google explanation on the “top 10 criminals”, which said, “Sometimes Google search results from the internet can include disturbing content, even from innocuous queries.”
Google has been further quoted as saying, “We assure you that the views expressed on by such sites are in no way endorsed by Google”. The California based company explains “Top 10 Criminals” with Modi appearing twice in the image section as follows: “Search results rely on computer algorithms that take into account thousand of factors.”
Google adds, “The beliefs and preferences of those who work at Google, as well the opinions of the general public, do not determine or impact our search results.” And since the “integrity of its search results is extremely important… accordingly, we not remove a page from our search results simply because its content is unpopular or because we receive complaints concerning it.”
Meanwhile, a top media group claimed, Google faced the “wrath of thousands of Modi fans on Wednesday on Twitter for it search results on 'Top 10 criminals'”, adding, “#Top10Criminals was trending on twitter because a search result for the same on Google threw up pictures of several Indians. And one of them is none other than Modi.” It noted, Modi’s picture appears, “not once, not twice, but thrice in the first 12 images.”
Others who secured a place in Google's “Top 10 criminals” search results in the images section included Osama Bin Laden, Dawood Ibrahim, Hafiz Saeed, Sanjay Dutt, American serial killer Ariel Castro, and so on. One also finds pictures of and Indian-American gay couple, Shannon and Seema, who got married in 2013. There is also the surprise picture of celebrated actress Sonakshi Sinha for being a “fashion criminal”!
While circles close to Modi, including the Prime Minister’s Office, did not immediately react, some twitteratti demanded an apology from Google, others wanted the Prime Minister’s name to out of the list, while still others took potshots at Modi. In an interesting tweet, @KejriwalFanClub said, “Hey @google PM Modi listed in #Top10Criminals list, also include Amit Shah on it. Without Amit Shah #Top10Criminals list is incomplete.”
Others who secured a place in Google's “Top 10 criminals” search results in the images section included Osama Bin Laden, Dawood Ibrahim, Hafiz Saeed, Sanjay Dutt, American serial killer Ariel Castro, and so on. One also finds pictures of and Indian-American gay couple, Shannon and Seema, who got married in 2013. There is also the surprise picture of celebrated actress Sonakshi Sinha for being a “fashion criminal”!
While circles close to Modi, including the Prime Minister’s Office, did not immediately react, some twitteratti demanded an apology from Google, others wanted the Prime Minister’s name to out of the list, while still others took potshots at Modi. In an interesting tweet, @KejriwalFanClub said, “Hey @google PM Modi listed in #Top10Criminals list, also include Amit Shah on it. Without Amit Shah #Top10Criminals list is incomplete.”
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