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Microsoft's Bing Refuses Search Term "Sex" In India

An anonymous reader writes "Apparently Microsoft is censoring search results for Bing in India and other countries. If you try to search for the term 'sex,' along with lots of variations, from India using Microsoft's new search engine, an error message is returned that says, 'the search sex may return sexually explicit content. To get results, change your search terms.' There's no preference setting or toggle-on-or-off choice; you simply cannot search for the term 'sex' in India if you are using Bing. While a user still can change their country and try the non-Indian version of Bing, this seems like an unnecessary step and unnecessary censorship on the part of Microsoft. Apparently Google has no problem with Indians searching for the term 'sex.'"

16 of 355 comments (clear)

  1. But... by Eggplant62 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Big Brother knows what's best for us. Now, sit down, shut up, and consume consume consume, work work work, buy buy buy.

  2. Pointing out the obvious... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If their population, and the Kama Sutra, are any indication, the cat is definitely out of the bag! Why Microsoft would choose to limit this information is beyond me...

  3. Tested and confirmed but... by thetoadwarrior · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It does stop you form searching for sex. Guess what, goatse gives the same result too! However you can search for:

    allah is gay
    gay
    nigger
    make bombs
    bombing building
    bme pain olympics
    2 girls 1 cup

    1. Re:Tested and confirmed but... by wild_quinine · · Score: 4, Insightful

      However you can search for: allah is gay gay nigger make bombs bombing building bme pain olympics 2 girls 1 cup

      ... And since Microsoft has blocked the things it disapproves of, we can only assume that they're in favour of all of the above, especially the bottom one.

      Somebody who isn't a shit-eating, racist, lesbian, terrorist ought to sue the pants off them.

  4. Re:Duh. by slarrg · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Sure, it's impossible that someone might be trying to read laws about sex discrimination or how to determine the sex of a snake or something.

  5. Foot, meet gun by Lonewolf666 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Congratulations, Microsoft. You have just blocked one of the most popular topics on the internet, forcing people to use an other search engine. Google will love this decision ;-)

    --
    C - the footgun of programming languages
  6. In all fairness to Microsoft by nurb432 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The Indian government might have demanded it.. stranger things have happened.

    --
    ---- Booth was a patriot ----
  7. Re:My office mate from India by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I am from India. It is such a ridiculous statement that no one is gay in India. (I am going ignore his implication that being gay is a "problem")

    Just curious, why is it so bad in the US for two men to hold hands in public ?

  8. Re:My office mate from India by palegray.net · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's not "bad" per se, it's just a cultural taboo as in the US such behavior implies homosexuality, which still carries a serious stigma.

  9. Re:Duh. by Darkness404 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Well, some people don't, some people search for a general term. For example I knew someone who was searching for Dick's Sporting Goods which is a major sporting goods retailer... He made the mistake of just typing in "Dicks" in Google. There are a few less obvious ones, "coke" can refer to both a drug (cocaine) or a beverage (coca-cola) and so even typing in "how to make coke" might contain information on refining the coca leaf or how to emulate the flavor of coca-cola. Sure, when you type in "sex" you are practically begging for porn, but similarly if you search for "pots" (most search engines ignore plurals so it comes out as just "pot") how do you know what they are searching for? Either cookware or drugs. If they tried to remove all references to drugs too they would run into problems like that. While "sex" is rather obvious, others are not.

    --
    Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
  10. Re:My office mate from India by Hikaru79 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It is done in India and it has no gay connotations whatsoever. In fact I think you'd offend and confuse anyone by suggesting it is related to homosexuality. Walking down the street holding hands with your male relative or friend is just done, the same way shaking hands (for instance) isn't gay here.

  11. who needs sex education in india by circletimessquare · · Score: 3, Insightful

    its not like its a highly overpopulated, poor country, right?

    better to keep indians ignorant of sex, in case they were to learn it might not be a good idea to bring yet another mouth to feed into the world

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  12. Re:My office mate from India by general_re · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I found it very healthy, to re-check all your most basic assumptions at most every 10 years. You will be surprised which one have absolutely no scientific base, but were very very deeply connected to every thought of yours.

    Absolutely. Don't assume that a hot stove will burn you - you should go right ahead and stick your hand on there every ten years or so, just in case.

    --
    ABSURDITY, n.: A statement or belief manifestly inconsistent with one's own opinion.
  13. Re:My office mate from India by oneiron · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yea, especially if you haven't been paying attention to stove technology... In ten years, stoves may be able to return to room temperature in an instant when exposed to living tissue. I'd hate to miss out on cool tech like that just because of assumptions based on old info.

  14. Re:My office mate from India by The+Grand+Falloon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Y'ever beat the shit out of your mom with that cane? 'Cause you probably should.

  15. Re:My office mate from India by bentcd · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I saw a thing on a some cable channel show, where a saw blade would instantly stop [sawstop.com] when you put your finger into it.

    I would very much want to know, and I would test it -- not with a human finger, but with something I wouldn't mind seeing chopped in half. If it fails the test, it goes back to the store. If it's a scam, they get what they deserve -- if it's merely defective, I get one that actually works.

    If this is the one they showed on Time Warp then triggering the automatic stop also breaks the machine (all that energy has to go /somewhere/) so it will be going back to the store whether it works or not.

    The one you get back will either be a different one or a repaired one, and you would of course have to test to see if the automatic stop still works . . .

    --
    sigs are hazardous to your health