Google, Yahoo and Microsoft in trouble for advertising abortion
FollowThe Supreme Court on Tuesday pulled up tech giants Google, Yahoo and Microsoft for showing advertisements featuring sex determination and abortion on its website.
The apex court further directed the government to call for a meeting immediately with technical experts and representatives from the search engines to find a permanent solution to this recurring problem.
According to Times of India, a Supreme Court bench headed by Justices Dipak Misra and R Banumathi observed that the search engines have been violating the Indian law which prohibits the sale of sex selection kits and its advertising. "They are patently violating the law and saying that they cannot do anything to block such advertisements. It is not acceptable, and the government must devise a mechanism to block ads," the bench said.
The court has granted ten days to the government to set up the meeting and has asked to file a report by July 25. It would pass an order based on that report. "A memorandum shall be filed before this court indicating the steps to be taken so that nothing goes through the search engines that violates any legislation," it said.
However, the lawyers representing the search engines argued that the sites did not promote any content which violated the PreConception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Technique (PCPNDT) Act or any Indian law. The bench was not satisfied with the argument and stood firm with its decision.
The court was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Sabu Mathew George, who is a member of the National Monitoring Committee.
