‘Kannada ugliest language’: Karnataka to take legal action against Google

The Karnataka government on Thursday said it will take legal action against tech giant Google following outrage over a search result that showed Kannada as India’s "ugliest language".

Kannada & Culture Minister Aravind Limbavali said a notice will be issued to Google.

A Google query on "ugliest language in India" showed Kannada as the answer, screenshots of which were shared widely by users. The Google answer was sourced from a website, which was mass reported by users.

By around 3 pm, Google altered the results for the search amidst widespread criticism.

"Kannada language has a history of its own, having come into existence as many as 2,500 years ago! It has been the pride of Kannadigas all through these two-and-a-half millennia. If Kannada is now called ugliest language in India, it is merely an attempt by Google to insult this pride of Kannadigas,” Limbavali said in a tweet.

In a statement, Limbavali said he had directed the Kannada & Culture secretary to consult the law department and issue a notice to Google.

Google, however, said sometimes the way any content is described on the Internet can yield "surprising results to specific queries".

"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 apologize for the misunderstanding and hurting any sentiments," a Google spokesperson said.

Former chief minister and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy asked why Google was insensitive towards languages. "Is it impossible for Google to regulate such hatred towards language in advance?" he asked.

Noting that the webpage from where the search result was sourced from was deleted, Kumaraswamy asked what was the relief for the hurt suffered by Kannadigas. "The mistake of Google is not acceptable."

The controversial search result was sourced from the website debtconsolidationsquad.com.

Google eventually excluded the webpage from its search results. By then, videos and thousands of social media posts were shared criticizing the search result.