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

Posted by timothy on from the back-to-spontaneous-generation dept.

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.'"

12 of 355 comments (clear)

  1. My office mate from India by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    used to say that gay people were not "a problem" in India, since no one there was really gay. But it was OK for men to hold hands in public.

    1. Re:My office mate from India by Feanturi · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Bullshit. If that were true, you'd be arrested for holding a kid's hand because of the implied sexual connection. Even worse if it was your OWN kid, that would be even worse, right?

    2. Re:My office mate from India by parlancex · · Score: 3, Interesting

      10 years ago you probably wouldn't have an induction based stovetop, so if you did now then yes, the assumption that it would burn you would be false.

    3. Re:My office mate from India by Epistax · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Sure, why not? If your whole perception of the universe has changed since then, that's exactly the kind of thing that'll let you know. The parent never suggested that you would have to, in this case, touch the hand on the burner until it left serious damage, but just enough to know that the old rules still apply.

      You're on what might be your only trip through this universe. Don't waste it. ANYTHING might change. Just don't count on it.

    4. Re:My office mate from India by SanityInAnarchy · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Curiosity, and science...

      Science is not for pussies!

      And, as for this one:

      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.

      Now, I'll reject GP's notion of testing all basic assumptions myself, certainly where it carries significant risk of bodily harm, but mostly because there are simply too many to test all of them.

      At the same time, it is that willingness to test things, even when there is significant risk of bodily harm (see Marie Curie), that drives science forward.

      --
      Don't thank God, thank a doctor!
    5. Re:My office mate from India by dunkelfalke · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Even an induction stove can get pretty hot after use because the heat of the cookware transfers back to the top plate. It can even get so hot that the stove gives an error and shuts down because of overheating.

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
  2. Seriously by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Google blocks searches for "Freedom" "Liberty" and other similar terms in China.

    You Google fanboys really need to stop drinking the Kool-Aid(TM), Google is no better than Microsoft.

    1. Re:Seriously by Looce · · Score: 2, Interesting

      China has a very oppressive government; India doesn't, as far as I know. It would be interesting to see whether Bing works at all in China... or if it's "restricted" in China like Google Search is.

      However, compare Internet censorship in the People's Republic of China ("new regulations to be enforced by the ministry that inflict fines for 'defaming government agencies,' 'splitting the nation,' and leaking "state secrets."")

      and Censorship in India, which is also applied to the Internet ("Some media dealing with sex are frequently banned. Films, television shows and music videos are especially prone, however if any literature is banned, it is not usually for pornographic reasons.")

      It would also be interesting to know whether Microsoft blocked 'sex' on Bing/India by request. or of its own volition to prevent possible repercussions. The law is enforced more heavily in China than in India, that's for sure.

  3. Re:Foot, meet gun by networkzombie · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Due to the religious nature of the vast majority of peoples in India, once they hear that it blocks offensive content it may become the search engine of choice.

  4. It's not just India... by ElKry · · Score: 5, Interesting

    There's an entire list of countries where the search returns that message, including germany:

    China
    Hong Kong
    Indonesia
    Malaysia
    Thailand
    Turkey
    And a lot of middle-east places, actually.

    A lots of those I can see how this could make some warped sense for religious/political reasons, but can someone clarify why Germany? What makes it special?

  5. Also blocked in South Korea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    Google has some interesting stats on the term "sex"

    http://www.google.com/insights/search/#q=sex&cmpt=q

  6. Misspelling gets around it by Nakor+BlueRider · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I did a search for:

    se x

    And got all the results for 'sex'