Summary Modi appeared on the list not just once but three times.
New Delhi — Internet giant Google apologised “for any confusion or misunderstanding” caused after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s images started appearing in the image search results for query on “Top 10 criminals in India”.
“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,” a Google spokesperson said in a statement.
Modi appeared on the list not just once but three times — as second, third and fourth. Other world leaders on the list include former US president George Bush and Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi. Other prominent Indians who come up in the search include Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, renowned lawyer Ram Jethmalani, fugitive underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt who is serving a jail term in connection with deadly blasts in Mumbai in 1993, American gangster Al Capone, and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
A Twitter war immediately broke out when Modi supporters locked horns with anti-Modi campaigners. While some reminded of his “suspected role” in the 2002 Gujarat riots, others grabbed the chance take a dig at Modi’s personal staff.
“To make PM’s pic appear twice in the #Top10Criminals list on google, his PR must have worked real hard!!!” tweeted @w1zzzo.
But most on the social media wanted Google to drop the image from its search results. “If I was Mr Modi, I would stop tweeting for a few days in protest,” tweeted @JhaSanjay.
Google said that results to the query “top 10 criminals in India” was due to a British daily which had an image of PM Modi and erroneous metadata.
It said that in this case, the image search results were drawn from multiple news articles with images of PM Modi, covering the prime minister’s statements with regard to politicians with criminal backgrounds, but added that the news articles do not link PM Modi to criminal activity, and the words just appeared in close proximity to each other.”
The Google apology came after many Indian politicians and commentators expressed concern on social media platforms.
According to media reports, the first Modi image that got picked up was from The Telegraph website. Though the article does not mention the PM as a criminal in any way, the lead image used is that of Modi. The headline of the piece reads “Top Indian educationalist accused of racism over portrayal of criminal ‘negroes’”.
Other images that got thrown up in the search included one from DNA India and another from The Guardian. The two articles are about Modi speaking on politicians with criminal backgrounds, and the accompanying images are that of the Prime Minister.
