Google shows Kannada as ‘ugliest’ language, removes it after outrage; apologises
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.
If Kannada is now called ugliest language in India, it is merely an attempt by @Google to insult this pride of Kannadigas. Demand apology from @Google ASAP to Kannada, Kannadigas. Legal action will be taken against @Google for maligning the image of our beautiful language! 2/2
— Aravind Limbavali (@ArvindLBJP) June 3, 2021
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.’
— Google India (@GoogleIndia) June 3, 2021
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.
ಕನ್ನಡವೊಂದೇ ಅಲ್ಲ, ಯಾವ ಭಾಷೆಯೂ ಕೆಟ್ಟ, ಕುರೂಪವಲ್ಲ. ಎಲ್ಲ ಭಾಷೆಗಳೂ ಸುಂದರವೇ. ಭಾಷೆ ಭಾವನೆಗಳಿಗೆ ಸಂಬಂಧಿಸಿದ ವಿಷಯ. ಭಾಷೆ ವಿರುದ್ಧ ನಿಂದನೆ ಬಹಳ ನೋವಿನದ್ದು. ಹೀಗಾಗಿ ಈ ವಿಚಾರದಲ್ಲಿ @Google ಸೂಕ್ಷ್ಮವಾಗಿರಬೇಕು. ಕನ್ನಡವನ್ನು ಅವಹೇಳನ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದ ವೆಬ್ಪುಟ ಡಿಲಿಟ್ ಆಗಿರಬಹುದು.ಆದರೆ, ಅದರಿಂದ ಕನ್ನಡಿಗರಿಗಾದ ನೋವಿಗೇನು ಪರಿಹಾರ?
— H D Kumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) June 3, 2021
2/4
ಇದು ನಿನ್ನ ಭಾಷೆ, ಇದು ದೇಶಭಾಷೆ,
— H D Kumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) June 3, 2021
ಇದು ಸಾವಿರಾರು ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಸುಪುಷ್ಟ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯಭಾಷೆ,
ಇದು ಮಹಾಕವಿಗಳನ್ನೂ ಶಿಲ್ಪಿಗಳನ್ನೂ ರಾಜಾಧಿರಾಜರನ್ನೂ ವೀರಾಧಿವೀರರನ್ನೂ ರಸಋಷಿದಾರ್ಶನಿಕರನ್ನೂ ಹಡೆದಿರುವ ಭಾಷೆ.
–ಕುವೆಂಪು
4/4
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.
Home to the great Vijayanagara Empire, #Kannada language has a rich heritage, a glorious legacy and a unique culture. One of the world’s oldest languages Kannada had great scholars who wrote epics much before Geoffrey Chaucer was born in the 14th century. Apologise @GoogleIndia. pic.twitter.com/Xie927D0mf
— P C Mohan (@PCMohanMP) June 3, 2021
‘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.’ PTI
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