PM Modi features in Google’s ‘Top 10 criminals’ list, Google apologises

Google on Wednesday apologised for ‘any confusion or misunderstanding’ after Indian PM Narendra Modi’s image began appearing in image search results for the query “Top 10 criminals”.

The list also included 1993 Mumbai bombings mastermind Dawood Ibrahim, American gangster Al Capone, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

“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 spokesperson for Google said in a statement.

Despite the apology, the image of the Indian prime minister was still showing up on Google Images when searched for ‘Top 10 criminals’. It was not very long before the images went viral on social media and the hashtag #top10criminal became one of the top trends on Twitter worldwide.

The company further justified itself by stating that results were due to a British newspaper which had an image of Modi and erroneous metadata.

 This article was originally published in Hindustan Times.