India has accused the tech giant of violating the law after its AI tool responded to a question about the prime minister
New Delhi has accused Google’s Gemini AI tool of violating India’s IT laws and criminal code after it appeared to link the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to ‘fascism’ in response to a user’s question.
Indian users took to X (formerly Twitter) to draw the government’s attention to Gemini’s response to a question on whether Modi is a “fascist.” The tool replied that the prime minister’s policies have been “characterized as fascist” by experts due to the BJP’s “Hindu nationalist ideology, crackdown on dissent, and its use of violence on religious minorities.”
In contrast, the tool adopted a milder tone when asked the same questions about former US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.
Reacting to the X post, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, India’s minister of state for electronic and information technology, claimed that Gemini violated the Information Technology Act and several provisions of the criminal code.
These are direct violations of Rule 3(1)(b) of Intermediary Rules (IT rules) of the IT act and violations of several provisions of the Criminal code. @GoogleAI @GoogleIndia @GoI_MeitY https://t.co/9Jk0flkamN