Karnataka govt to take legal action after Google search result shows Kannada as India’s “ugliest language”

Bengaluru: Expressing their dissent over a Google search result that shows Kannada as India’s “ugliest language”, the state government on Thursday said it will take legal action against the tech giant.

Netizens, mostly Kannada-speaking people have shared the screengrab of the controversial search results, sourced from the website debtconsolidtionsquad.com, and demanded an apology from Google. Amid the massive backlash, Google is said to have altered the results for the search at around 3 pm.

Among those who voiced their dissent over the insult of the language were former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy, Member of Parliament PC Mohan and Kannada & Culture Minister Aravind Limbavali.

Tweeting on the incident, Limbavali stated: “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.”

The minister has also ordered the Kannada & Culture Secretary to consult the law department and issue a legal notice to Google.

‘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,’ tweeted PC Mohan.

HD Kumaraswamy questioned if it was impossible for Google to regulate such hatred towards language in advance. Further he said that though the webpage from where the search result was sourced now stands deleted, it has already hurt the sentiments of Kannadigas.