"Can’t get away with saying sorry...": Minister’s warning to Tech companies

Mangalore Today /NDTV

New Delhi, March 04,2024: Union IT Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Monday warned Google it had left itself open to criminal prosecution, after the global internet giant’s artificial intelligence tool - Gemini - provided an objectionable response to a question about Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"Platforms like Google have a significant presence on the internet... they are significant powers on the internet (and) for them to do something wrong and then simply say, ’I’m sorry’ or ’I apologise’ is certainly not what the law expects them to do," he told NDTV in an exclusive interview this morning.

He also said platforms like Google could not expect to "get away with an ’I’m sorry" or ’I apologise’".

He further questioned the release of an "untested platform (referring to the Gemini chatbot)... without any disclosures or disclaimers", and said, "... then there will be consequences. To simply then say ’... sorry, it was untested’ is not consistent with our expectations of compliance with the law."

Mr Chandrasekhar emphasised the government’s "sincere (and) serious responsibility" to internet users in India, and said tech companies could not "get away by talking their way out of a problem".

However, he stopped short of saying the government does, in fact, plan to prosecute Google.

The Union Minister cited the new IT Rules and said tech companies "should not allow their platforms to be used in a manner that outputs unlawful content or violates the law of the land".

He did not, though, say if the government will actually take legal action.

"I think it is not so much for the government to prosecute as much as the users who have the cause of action... who are prejudiced by a platform that spews out unlawful content," he told NDTV.

"I have heard... there are many people who are quite agitated by the conduct of this and other platforms. My response to them is, ’the government may, or may not, do some things because we have limited powers under the law... it is for individuals, or groups, to hold them to account."

Mr Chandrasekhar’s sharp words come amid a growing row between the government and Google after Gemini - a generative artificial intelligence chatbot earlier called Bard - after the tool’s controversial response to a question on the Prime Minister and his policies.

Gemini reportedly based its answer on factors like the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s "nationalist ideology" and what its critics say is quashing of dissent and violence against minorities.

Under-fire, Google last month conceded Gemini "may not always be reliable in responding to certain prompts related to current events and political topics", and said it was working to address the issue.

It isn’t just the Modi question that has the chatbot roiled in controversy. Google CEO Sundar Pichai said last week some of its text and image responses were "biased" and "completely unacceptable"