Tech giant Google was at the centre of a massive controversy after a search with the keywords "ugliest language in India" on the platform popped up "Kannada" in the results, with the Karnataka government saying it will issue a legal notice to the search engine.
Facing widespread condemnation, Google fixed the search and apologised, saying the search result did not reflect its opinion.
Karnataka Minister for Kannada, Culture and Forests Aravind Limbavali told reporters that a legal notice will be served to Google for showing such an answer. He also took to Twitter to express his outrage and demanded an apology from Google.
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.
A Google spokesperson said, "The 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."
Politicians, journalists, actors and activists all slammed Google over the situation.