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.'"

Comments

No matter what the search engine says,

[palegray.net]

... there is no sex in India's champagne room.

Re:No matter what the search engine says,

[ydrol]

To Paraphrase Russell Peters,

"India is the second largest population in the world. Somebody's fucking..."

and then...

[SinShiva]

there was pron.

My office mate from India

[Anonymous Coward]

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.

Re:My office mate from India

[Anonymous Coward]

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 ?

Re:My office mate from India

[palegray.net]

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.

Re:My office mate from India

[Beardo the Bearded]

Because lots of men don't wash their hands, and it grosses people out that they've doubled the chances of spreading swine flu.

Re:My office mate from India

[Hurricane78]

My approach to things like this changed. I just don't care for shit like that. When it's hot, I like to run around barefoot. Even when shopping, etc.
And I make it look good. Fitting clothing style. Clean. And self-confident.
Now I get more girls talking to me *because* of it.

I think the trick is, to have a stronger reality. Of what is right and cool.
If you manage to drag others in your reality, you can do what you like.

So partially, it's people themselves, running around in fear, acting kinda ashamed, that makes other people think it's normal to treat them like this.
Same thing with learned wrong assumptions about yourself. Like people thinking they are stupid, therefore giving up earlier, and not even trying to achieve some goals.

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.

Re:My office mate from India

[general_re]

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.

Re:My office mate from India

[oneiron]

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.

Re:My office mate from India

[encoderer]

You just have to wear it proud. That's the problem with AIDS, too many people walking around ashamed of the lesions on their face. I walk around with lesions and I make it look good. More girls talk to me *because* of it.

Re:My office mate from India

[The Grand Falloon]

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

Work-related?

[Excaliburszone]

Perhaps Microsoft doesn't want it's tech support searching for certain things while on the job?

Re:'sex may return sexually explicit content'

[Anonymous Coward]

No shit, Sherlock.

Keep digging Watson.

Pointing out the obvious...

[Anonymous Coward]

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...

Re:Duh.

[slarrg]

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.

Foot, meet gun

[Lonewolf666]

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 ;-)

In all fairness to Microsoft

[nurb432]

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

Re:In all fairness to Microsoft

[Sc4Freak]

It wasn't a government demand, but Microsoft voluntarily banned these search terms in order to comply with local laws in various countries.

An article on Ars Technica found that 20% of regions had sexual content blocked.

The article states, "Microsoft says it determined this list of regions by looking at their local laws. The company is not taking action in response to specific government demands or regulations; it is simply playing it safe."

and then... it was banned.

[im_thatoneguy]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pornography_in_India

Pornography is illegal in India. I assume the reason Microsoft bans the word "Sex" is ensure it is not sued as a pornography distributor.

Re:Duh.

[DMalic]

sex discrimination and sex crimes are blocked (just tested).

Population Control

[CougMerrik]

There's how many people in India? Over a billion? Maybe it should just redirect to "Did you mean to search for Birth Control?"

It's not just India...

[ElKry]

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?

Re:It's not just India...

[feepness]

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?

Have you seen German porn?! Blocking the term there is a public service!

Google definitely has no problem with it...

[Z80xxc!]

Apparently Google has no problem with Indians searching for the term 'sex.'

From google trends searching for Sex:

Regions:

1. India
2. Egypt
3. Indonesia
4. Morocco
5. Turkey

Cities:

1. Delhi, India
2. Chennai, India
3. Jakarta, Indonesia
4. Mumbai, India
5. Rabat, Morocco

Yeah I'd say google has absolutely no problem with people in India searching for "sex".

Re:Tested and confirmed but...

[wild_quinine]

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.

Any single female indian girls?

[DiSKiLLeR]

A lot of Indian's seem to be posting here, sooo.... any single Indian females by any chance? :)

(Yup, I'm gonna be modded down to hell, I just know it, but you can't blame a guy for trying !)

Re:But...

[Anonymous Coward]

Big Brother knows what's best for us.

Don't you mean "bing" brother?

Misspelling gets around it

[Nakor BlueRider]

I did a search for:

se x

And got all the results for 'sex'

Re:Duh.

[wisty]

"Hot blondes" is blocked. "Hot dirty blondes" is OK.

Go figure.

Also, "Two girls one cup", "goatsie", and "tubgirl" pass. I guess they still have some work to do.