News Analysis India

Tag: Google

  • Google shows Kannada as ‘ugliest’ language, removes it after outrage; apologises

    By PTI
    BENGALURU: Kannada as answer to a query in Google on ugliest language in India sparked an outrage on Thursday and the Karnataka government said it would issue a legal notice to the tech leader, while that reply appeared to be a gaffe.

    With people expressing their indignation and leaders cutting across party lines slamming Google, it quickly removed Kannada “as the ugliest language in India” and apologised to the people saying the search result did not reflect its opinion.

    Karnataka Minister for Kannada, Culture and Forest, Aravind Limbavali told reporters that a legal notice would be served to Google for showing such an answer to that question.

    Later, he took to Twitter to express his outrage and demanded an apology from Google to Kannada and Kannadigas.

    Kannada language has a history of its own, having come into existence as many as 2,500 years ago, the minister said and added that the language has been the pride of Kannadigas through the ages.

    Showing Kannada in poor light “…is merely an attempt by Google to insult this pride of Kannadigas.

    I demand an apology from @Google ASAP to Kannada, Kannadigas. Legal action will be taken against Google for maligning the image of our beautiful language!” Limbavali tweeted.

    When contacted, a Google spokesperson said, “search isn’t always perfect. Sometimes, the way content is described on the internet can yield surprising results to specific queries.”

    “We know this is not ideal, but we take swift corrective action when we are made aware of an issue and are continually working to improve our algorithms.

    Naturally, these are not reflective of the opinions of Google, and we apologise for the misunderstanding and hurting any sentiments.” Former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy denounced Google in a series of tweets for the outrageous answer to the language question.

    He sought to know why Google “behaves in an irresponsible manner” in terms of language.

    Others including the BJP’s Bengaluru Central MP, P C Mohan slammed Google and asked it to apologise.

    Sharing the screenshot of the search on his Twitter handle, Mohan said Karnataka is home to the great Vijayanagara empire and the Kannada language has a rich heritage, a glorious legacy and a unique culture.

    “One of the worlds oldest languages, Kannada had great scholars who wrote epics much before Geoffrey Chaucer was born in the 14th century. Apologise @GoogleIndia.”

  • Google claims new IT rules not applicable to its search engine: HC seeks Centre’s stand

    The single judge #39;s decision had come while dealing with a matter in which a woman #39;s photographs were uploaded on a pornographic website by some miscreants.

  • Google, Facebook, WhatsApp share details with IT Ministry; Twitter still not following new digital norms: Sources

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Large social media companies like Google, Facebook and WhatsApp have shared details with the IT Ministry as per requirement of the new digital rules, but Twitter is still not following the norms, government sources said.

    Twitter has not sent details of chief compliance officer to the IT Ministry, and shared details of a lawyer working in a law firm as nodal contact person and grievance officer, the sources said.

    This when the IT rules clearly require these designated officers of the significant social media platforms to be employees of the company and resident in India, they pointed out.

    Meanwhile, most of the large social media platforms have shared details of chief compliance officer, nodal contact person and grievance officer with the ministry, as laid down under the new rules, sources said.

    Significant social media intermediaries, including Google, Facebook, WhatsApp, Koo, Sharechat, Telegram and LinkedIn, have shared details with the ministry as per the requirement of the IT norms that came into effect earlier this week.

    However, Twitter has not yet complied with the IT rules, they said.

    After a strong response from the government on Thursday, Twitter sent a communication sharing details of a lawyer working in a law firm in India as their nodal contact person and grievance officer.

    On Thursday, the row over Twitter’s handling of certain messages had escalated into an all-out war of words, with the government saying the messaging platform was levelling baseless and false allegations to defame India and dictating terms to the world’s largest democracy.

    It started with Twitter calling the visit by Delhi Police to its offices a form of “intimidation” — a statement which met with vociferous protests from both the government and the Delhi Police.

    While the government called it “totally baseless, false and an attempt to defame India”, Delhi Police said the statement was “mendacious” and designed to impede a lawful inquiry.

    Twitter had marked several tweets by ruling BJP leaders on an alleged strategy document of Opposition to target the government over COVID as containing ‘manipulated media’, which prompted the police to visit its offices late on Monday.

    Twitter said it was committed to India as a vital market, but criticised the new IT rules and regulations that it said “inhibit free, open public conversation.”

    The government slammed Twitter’s remarks on alleged intimidation and threat to free speech and in a strongly-worded counter said the micro-blogging platform had sought to undermine India’s legal system through its actions and deliberate defiance.

    Under the new rules, social media companies like Facebook, WhatsApp and Twitter have been asked to identify within 36 hours the originator of a flagged message as well as conduct additional due diligence, including the appointment of a chief compliance officer, nodal contact person and resident grievance officer.

    The Centre has said the new rules are designed to prevent abuse and misuse of platforms, and offer users a robust forum for grievance redressal.

    Non-compliance with rules would result in these platforms losing their intermediary status that provides them immunity from liabilities over any third-party data hosted by them.

    In other words, they could be liable for criminal action in case of complaints.

    After the new norms came into effect on May 26, the IT Ministry had turned up the heat on significant social media companies, asking them to immediately report compliance and provide details of the three key officials appointed.

  • HC directs Google to remove verdict acquitting man in drug case as it affected his job prospects

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has directed online search engine Google to remove links to a judgement acquitting an Indian origin American citizen of drug charges after he moved a plea claiming that because of the availability of the verdict he was unable to get a good job in the US.

    Apart from Google, Justice Prathiba M Singh also directed web portal Indian Kanoon to block access to the judgement in question till the next date of hearing on August 20.

    The court also issued notice to the Centre, Google and Indian Kanoon, seeking their stand on the man’s plea to permanently remove access to the judgement.

    While issuing notice in the matter, the court said, “The question as to whether a court order can be removed from online platforms is an issue which requires examination of both the right to privacy of the petitioner on the one hand, and the right to information of the public and maintenance of transparency in judicial records on the other hand.”

    The court, in its April 12 order, further said that though the petitioner was acquitted in the case “irreparable prejudice” may be caused to him, his social life and his career prospects, and therefore, he was “entitled to some interim protection” while the legal issues are pending adjudication.

    “Accordingly, Respondent 2 and 3 (Google India and Google LLC) are directed to remove the said judgment dated January 29, 2013 from their search results.

    “Respondent No.4 – Indian Kanoon is directed to block the said judgement from being accessed by using search engines such as Google/Yahoo etc., till the next date of hearing.Respondent No.1 (Centre) to ensure compliance of this order,” the court said.

    According to the petitioner, when he travelled to India in 2009 a case under the Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, was lodged against him.

    In April 2011, a trial court acquitted him of all the charges and an appeal against the same by the police was rejected by the high court which in January 2013 upheld the acquittal.

    However, as the 2013 judgement was available online for any potential employer who wanted to conduct a background verification about him, he was unable to get any jobs as per his expectations despite having a good academic record, the petitioner told the court.

    He has also said that he sent legal notices to Google and Indian Kanoon but they did not remove the judgement from their platforms and hence he moved the high court for relief.

  • Facebook, Google working on complying with social media rules as deadline looms

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: With just hours to go before the new IT rules for social media companies take effect, large digital platforms Facebook and Google on Tuesday asserted they are working towards meeting the compliance requirements.

    The new rules, announced on February 25, require large social media platforms like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp to follow additional due diligence, including the appointment of a chief compliance officer, nodal contact person and resident grievance officer.

    ‘Significant social media intermediaries’ — defined as those with over 50 lakh registered users — were given three months to comply with the additional requirements.

    Non-compliance with rules would result in these social media companies losing their intermediary status that provides them exemptions and specified immunity from liabilities for any third-party information and data hosted by them.

    In other words, they could be liable for action.

    A Google spokesperson said the company has consistently invested in significant product changes, resources and personnel to ensure that it is combating illegal content in an effective and fair way, and to comply with local laws in the jurisdictions it operates in.

    “We realise that our work in keeping our platforms secure is never done and we will continue to refine our existing approaches, and evolve our policies and be as transparent as possible about how we make decisions,” the spokesperson said.

    A Facebook spokesperson noted that the company is working to implement operational processes and aims to comply with the provisions of the IT rules.

    The social media giant — which also owns photo-sharing platform Instagram — said it continues to discuss a “few of the issues which need more engagement” with the government.

    Facebook and Google, however, did not clarify on the new level of compliance being met as of Tuesday.

    However, according to sources close to the development, Facebook has put in place provisions around voluntary verification, 24-hour timeline to remove content flagged for nudity etc and setting up a process and time-bound grievance redressal mechanism.

    Process is underway for compliance with requirements like generation of monthly compliance reports and appointment of chief compliance officer, nodal contact person and resident grievance officer.

    Notably, Twitter has not commented on its compliance status.

    The microblogging platform had drawn flak from the government recently after it put ‘manipulated media’ tag on tweets by BJP leaders on an alleged toolkit used by the Opposition to target Centre over its COVID-19 handling.

    Confronting Twitter on the issue, the government had, last week asked the microblogging platform to remove the tag, saying the social media platform cannot pass a judgment on a matter under investigation.

    There were no immediate comments from WhatsApp on the IT rules compliance.

    Last week, Koo — the Indian rival of Twitter — had said it has complied with the requirements of the new rules and its Privacy Policy, Terms of Use and Community Guidelines now reflect the changes.

    Koo has close to 6 million (60 lakh) users, making it a major social media intermediary under the new guidelines.

    Recently, various industry bodies, including the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the US-India Business Council (USIBC), had written to the government seeking up to a one-year extension for compliance, particularly in the view of the pandemic.

    However, so far there is no word on any extension.

    IT Ministry sources said that appointment of a grievance officer would be a key requirement from day one of the rules coming into effect, given the importance of public interface for complaints, and need for an acknowledgement system for requests.

    On February 25, the government had announced tighter regulations for social media firms, requiring them to remove any content flagged by authorities within 36 hours and setting up a robust complaint redressal mechanism with an officer being based in the country.

    Significant social media companies will have to publish a monthly compliance report disclosing details of complaints received and action taken, as also details of contents removed proactively.

    They will also be required to have a physical contact address in India published on its website or mobile app, or both.

    As per data cited by the government, India has 53 crore WhatsApp users, 44.8 crore YouTube users, 41 crore Facebook subscribers, 21 crore Instagram users, while 1.75 crore account holders are on microblogging platform Twitter.

    The new rules were introduced to make social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter and Instagram — which have seen a phenomenal surge in usage over the past few years in India — more accountable and responsible for the content hosted on their platform.

    Social media companies will have to take down posts depicting nudity or morphed photos within 24 hours of receiving a complaint.

    Notably, the rules require significant social media intermediaries — providing services primarily in the nature of messaging — to enable identification of the “first originator” of the information that undermines sovereignty of India, security of the state, or public order.

    This could have major ramifications for players like Twitter and WhatsApp.

    The rules also state that users who voluntarily want to verify their accounts should be given an appropriate mechanism to do so, and be accorded a visible mark of verification.

  • Google accidentally reveals the name of its cheaper Pixel Buds

    Google is rumored to release a new pair of TWS earbuds like the Pixel Buds that may be called the Google Pixel Buds A. This pair of Buds is expected to have a lower price-point than the current Pixel Buds model and as per the latest report, Google may have accidentally confirmed the name of the more affordable Buds.

    As spotted by Caschy’s Blog, Google Germany added a listing to the search results for its store and the “Pixel Buds A-Series” was listed as an option on Google’s storefront in the search results. While we still don’t know the exact naming structure for the Pixel Buds A, we now know that the “A” lines up with Google’s Pixel “A” smartphones, which are targeted at lower price points.

    The Pixel Buds A will look identical to the Pixel Buds as previously leaked images have shown. The Pixel Buds A will feature a different coloring scheme, and will have only one LED indicator instead of the Pixel Buds dual LEDs. The interior of the Pixel Buds A’s case will also be the same color as the Buds themselves in contrast to the Pixel Bud’s purely black interior.

  • After Joe Biden’s offer of help, global tech giants pour support to Covid-hit India

    By Express News Service
    BENGALURU: A day after US President Joe Biden announced the lifting of the embargo on the exports of vaccine raw materials and helping India tide the Coronavirus wave, aid has started pouring in from the top global tech giants. 

    Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said in a statement that he was heartbroken by the current situation in India. ”I’m grateful the US government is mobilizing to help. Microsoft will continue to use its voice, resources, and technology to aid relief efforts, and support the purchase of critical oxygen concentration devices,” he added. On Tuesday, e-commerce giant Amazon said that it would airlift 100 ICU ventilator units from the US to India, working in coordination with the country’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. The e-tailer also said that it is working with a non-profit organization of various Indian startups, ACT Grants to import over 8,000 oxygen concentrators and 500 BiPAP machines from Singapore into the country.

    ALSO READ | Where is the vaccine for youth, ask experts as India set to open up COVID-19 shots for all

    The e-tailer said that it is working closely with Medtronic (MT) for these units to be airlifted into India. “we expect the consignment to enter the country in the next two weeks. Amazon India is working closely with the MoHFW appointed agencies to finalize the hospitals with the most urgent need so that Amazon can partner with MT for end-to-end delivery, installation, maintenance, and training of personnel who will use these machines,” the company said in a statement.

    Earlier, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that the tech firm will donate to the relief support and medical aid supplies in India. “Amid a devastating rise of COVID cases in India, our thoughts are with the medical workers, our Apple family, and everyone there who is fighting through this awful stage of the pandemic. Apple will be donating to support and relief efforts on the ground,” Cook said in a statement.

    On Monday, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced Rs 135 crore ($18 million) aid to India to help with direct cash for low-income families as well as augment medicine supplies. “This includes two grants from Google.org, Google’s philanthropic arm, totaling 20 Crore INR ($2.6 million USD). The first is to GiveIndia to provide cash assistance to families hit hardest by the crisis to help with their everyday expenses. 

    The second will go to UNICEF to help get urgent medical supplies, including oxygen and testing equipment, to where it’s needed most in India. It also includes donations from our ongoing employee giving campaign — so far more than 900 Googlers have contributed 3.7 Crore INR ($500,000 USD) for organizations supporting high-risk and marginalized communities,” Pichai said in a statement.

  • Google will launch Pixel 5a 5G this year, but not in India

    Pixel 5a 5G is not cancelled, Google has confirmed. The confirmation comes in response to a bevy of speculations that started to pile up late last night following a media report that suggested Google had scrapped the Pixel 5a 5G due to the global semiconductor shortage.

    Google is surely not immune to this shortage, though. The Pixel 5a 5G will be available in select markets – US and Japan only – and just like last year, Google isn’t planning to bring a 5G Pixel phone to India again (we do not have a confirmation on the Pixel 6 at this point of time). The Pixel 4a 5G and Pixel 5 were not launched in India due to a number of factors including local market trends and product features which were supposedly not in their favour. Only the Pixel 4a LTE was launched in India.

    Curiously, there is no word on the Pixel 5a LTE – a Pixel phone that could come to India. We don’t even know if the phone exists, and if yes, will Google launch it alongside the Pixel 5a 5G (and presumably the Pixel 6) or maybe – and that’s just wishful thinking – announce it at I/O.

    Google making a Pixel announcement reacting to a rumour isn’t unheard of anymore but you can’t help but point out, this was rather unexpected. Whatever be the case, long-term Pixel fans can breathe a sigh of relief that the global semiconductor shortage hasn’t got the better of Google just yet. Remember, Samsung – a smartphone behemoth – isn’t launching a Galaxy Note this year for the same reason. Hopefully, Google will have some good news for its Indian fan base as well.

  • Google must pay for content: Newspapers

    By Express News Service
    NEW DELHI:  The Indian Newspaper Society (INS) asked Google to compensate Indian newspapers for using their content and to share its advertising revenues.

    Google should increase the publisher share of advertising revenue to 85 per cent, it insisted, adding there should be more transparency in the revenue reports provided to publishers.

    In a letter, INS president L Adimoolam said Google should pay for news generated by the newspapers which employ thousands of journalists on the ground, at considerable expense, for gathering and verifying information.

    “Since, the content which is generated and published by newspapers at considerable expense is proprietary, the Society pointed out that it is this credible content which has given Google the authenticity in India ever since its inception.”

    Pointing out that publishers were providing complete access to “quality journalism with credible news, current affairs, analysis, information and entertainment”, the INS said there is a huge distinction between the editorial content from quality publications and fake news.

    The Society said publishers have been raising the issue of fair payment for content and of proper sharing of advertising revenue with Google.

    It noted that Google recently agreed to better compensate and pay publishers in France, the EU and Australia. It added advertising was the financial backbone of the news industry.  

    “However, newspaper publishers are seeing share of the advertising pie shrinking in the digital space, even as Google is taking a ‘giant share of advertising spends’, leaving publishers with a small share.” 

    The INS also raised the issue of giving greater prominence to editorial content from Registered News Publishers to tackle fake news, as Google picks up content from several sites that are not credible.

    “Indian print media is the most credible source of news and information in the country, and newspapers play a vital role in nation building. However, the pandemic and the current digital business model have been unfair to publishers, making it unviable for the print media industry,” it said.