By Ranjan Bhaduri,
Nov. 25, (THAINDIAN NEWS) The first picture that appears on the google image search when searched for the term “Michelle Obama” is a distorted picture that has been made to make the first lady look like a monkey. The picture has been posted on a blog- “Hot Girls” which also contains other normal Michelle Obama pictures. Earlier a site was removed from the Google list, which also contained distorted Obama images. This was reportedly done because the site contained malware and not because of the offensive content.

Google Inc said that the picture will not be removed from its database even though it is being seen as “racist and repugnant”. The spokesperson for Google Inc said that they need more reason to remove the picture than it appearing “offensive to some people”. He added, “We have in general a bias towards free speech”. Even though the picture has not been removed from the list, Google has put “offensive search result” above the picture itself and when clicked on it, it reads, “We assure you that the views expressed by such sites are not in any way endorsed by Google.” There is also an extended apology, in case “you’ve had an upsetting experience using Google”. Google also adds that if required to do so legally, they would take down any content. The White House has not issued any comment on the matter yet.

This is not the first time that such measures were taken by Google in order to avoid any kind of scandal or negative publicity. Other instances include the one in 2004, where a search for the term Jew came up with the top result of an “anti-semitic site”.