Google apologizes for swastika situation

Google has issued a statement about the swastika that was No. 1 on its Hot Trends list this morning but disappeared within hours. 

We have an automated system to identify and remove inappropriate or offensive material in Hot Trends. In rare cases, when such material is missed, we manually remove these results from our Hot Trends list. We apologize to any users who were offended by this situation.

Google's apology illustrates how sensitive the issue is. The implication is that someone at Google judged the swastika "inappropriate or offensive." (Pornographic or profane terms rarely appear on the trends list.)

A Hindu swastika symbol adorns stairs in India
Photo by flickr user Meanest Indian 

I've requested additional comment on who decided to remove the symbol and why. It may bear mentioning that Google Trends team members are based in Tel Aviv, Israel (see an unrelated post by team members here), though it's not clear they did the removing.

Obviously the swastika carries hateful connotations. But if a service purports to accurately represent people's searches, who gets to decide what counts as offensive? The swastika isn't a derogatory term or obscene word; it's a symbol with a multifaceted history. 

On a separate note: Google also clarified that "we were just speculating" in an earlier statement about the origin of the search. (That statement said, "In this case, it appears that the html code for this query was posted on a popular internet bulletin board, which led to quite a few people searching to find out more about this symbol.")

Update (10:14 p.m.): Google has refused to comment on whether their position is that a swastika is offensive.  They would also not say if it was an Israel-based employee who made the decision to remove the entry from Hot Trends, though earlier a spokesperson stated that delays in getting a comment on the situation were in part due to the Google Trends team's being based in Tel Aviv.

Comments

[Adina]

It's truly pathetic that David Sarno believes that the question of whether or not a swastika is offensive is "debatable". Despite the ancient origins of the symbol, most folks today don't recognize it as a symbol of Hinduism -- its primary meaning has been its association with the murderous racism of the Nazis. When Sarno brightly refers to the swastika as a symbol with a "multifacted history", you'd think he was referring to the peace sign.

And yes, David, please update us in your keen investigation into those nefarious Israeli Google employees and their insistence on considering the swastika offensive. I'm sure you'd happily wear it on your t-shirt, but most people have a slightly less ambivalent view of symbolized evil.

[spacechimp555]

"Svasti" is a Hindu (Sanskrit) word that translates as "well being." The svastika (swastika) was a sacred symbol to Hindus and Buddhists alike, and one can find temples and homes adorned with it throughout South Asia. Sadly, when Hitler appropriated the swastika as the symbol of his National Socialist (Nazi) Party in the early 1930's, it came to represent evil and genocide. Thus, modern Western civilization abhors it. When a Buddhist temple in LA decorated its fences with wrought iron swastikas, many people became offended, because average Joe America is simply not ready for a return to the original, peaceful meaning of svasti (the memories of WWII and Bergen-Belsen are still too fresh). The monks wisely decided to remove the symbols rather than attempt to explain the sacred meaning to the clamoring crowds. Ironically, the local Jewish community, well aware of the many meanings of the swastika, came to the defense of the temple, declaring that they had the right to display the swastika in its context as a symbol of goodness.

[Dave]

....it's too bad that a purported fount of information (Google) caters to the indignation of a few ignorant individuals.

The Hindu ( and American Indian, etc.) swastika runs counter-clockwise - facing the left. The swastika adopted by the Nazis faced to the right. In addition, the swastika has been used as a graphic representation of positive energy by numerous cultures for centuries. I'm sure there are now links here, via Google or elsewhere that make this info redundant, and I don't mean for my input to be condescending or insensitive, but since I remember a few things from high school I leave the research to the bleeding hearts. Swastikas for Dummies, anyone?

Why not post something educational which links to the "offensive" image for the dingbats concerned, rather than kowtowing to "politcally correct" outrage that only serves to reinforce the empowerment of a symbol that shouldn't be given such impact any more?

cheers
Heavy D

[Bill Rowland]

The swastika shown on the Indian staircase is left handed, the Nazi swastica was right handed.

[Castulo Guerra]

Google is evil. They've never been a neutral arbiter of anything. Money is all that matters. Get over it.

[b]

Gosh Adina, are you serious? You might as well just say "white people are all honkies". You know, because some of them are, therefore they all are. The symbol known as a "swastika" has a deeper history that what you seem capable of recognizing. Its a bunch of lines in a pattern. It wasn't just a part of Hindi culture and German oppression. Heck, it was even represented in some Native America tribes. But that doesn't mean folks have to "wear it on their t-shirt" to acknowledge a simple fact - symbols can be easily distorted by groups of people. Regardless...they are still symbols, meaningless to many as their the cultural significance isn't readily translatable. But they are still symbols, and have different meanings.

[another view]

"Despite the ancient origins of the symbol, most folks today don't recognize it as a symbol of Hinduism -- its primary meaning has been its association with the murderous racism of the Nazis."

Who, exactly, are "most folks"? Obviously Adina is being a bit racist herself to discount the views of over a billion people (Indians), and others, whose primary association of a swastika is not murderous racism but something quite the opposite. Why does the negative association that white western culture has with the Swastika (presumably what is meant by "most people") trump the beautiful symbolic meaning held by southeast Asians?

[Tom J]

Sounds more like one of those viral emails going about that promise good luck if you send it on to your ten closest friends within the next five seconds. Maybe it triggers a Google search by having the recipients click on a link. Have you checked out the serps when you google for whatever the html code is?

[RC Sharma]

I am surprised and dismayed that Google removed swastika from Google Trends. After all, people will continue to search for swastika, trends or no trends.

The quest for search shows one thing clearly: It is slowly dawning on people in the west that swastika IS the HOLIEST SYMBOL in Hinduism and Buddhism.

Google has refused to comment on whether their position is that a swastika is offensive. They expected to be honest. Why don't they comment if swastika is obscene, or objectionable and HOW.??

If "most" people fail to realise that it is an integral part of Hinduim, then they are clearly ignorant. Worse, they are not prepared to learn either.

[Offended by Backwards Trolls Like Adina]

Go to H-E-double hockey sticks, Adina. Some of us are quite aware of the Hindu meaning and prefer to think of that symbolism rather than the atrocity that the swastika received in the early 20th century. And unlike you some of us prefer not to continue that atrocity by looking for the good where it exists and expunge the bad. Rather than, oh, I don't know, continue to give some ugly concept any more publicity. So, again, Go to H-E-double hockgy sticks, Adina.

...a few moments later...

Thank god. Now that that's out of my system I see I am not alone after reading others' opinions on Adina's comment.

[apu]

"Despite the ancient origins of the symbol, most folks today don't recognize it as a symbol of Hinduism -- its primary meaning has been its association with the murderous racism of the Nazis"

I suppose this means the "most folks" who live in Europe or the US? Oh wait, surely those millions who live in India and other parts of Asia don't count! What if they don't see it as a hateful symbol? What if it means something completely different to them? Oh of course, that doesn't matter, does it! This Eurocentric world view makes me sick.

[Vincent Egry]

Censorship is generally evil. Censoring information about what is being censored and who the censors are is particularly egregious. Let's not let Google keep mum about what precisely happened, because by censoring the Hot Trends data, Google can mislead the people concerning what they are thinking. After that, it is a tiny step for most to be told what to think. Who made Google the world's Ministry of Propaganda?

[Zachary Johnston]

The swastika is an ubiquitous symbol throughout all of South and East Asia. And, incidentally, the 'right facing' is the most common form, especially in the Hindu world. As right-facing means evolution and left facing means involution, in the Hindu sense. In Buddhism when facing right it stands for strength and intelligence and facing left it stands for love and mercy. And is an important part of Dharma in both religions as it signifies universal harmonies and the balance of opposites.

Moreover, in antiquity, this symbols was not only found in North American Indian cultures and Sub-Continental and Buddhist, but also in Persian, Greeco-Roman, Celtic, Baltic, Germanic and Slavic cultures, in both left and right facings.

Obviously, this symbol became popular in the early 20th century as a symbol of good luck (often pre WWI air forces would use the symbol for just that, ie Finland). Then it was high-jacked by the NSDAP for their international symbol and evil, horrendous crimes against humanity ensued across Europe under fascism.

If the sight of the swastika does offend you, then I may suggest no traveling Asia east of Pakistan, because you can't miss it. I think the most blatant clashing of East and West, in regards to the swastika, I've encountered was in Kochi in the Jewish Quarter, where a simple spice shop, owned by Indian Jews is named 'Swastik Spices'. And the swastika is proudly displayed on their sign, windows, business card and labels, right facing. i would gladly post the picture from that establishment, if I could here.

[Seychelles]

The Hindu swastika runs counter-clockwise - facing the left. The swastika adopted by the Nazis faced to the right.

[Jeff - buzzpirates.com]

Sounds like this is a lose-lose situation for Google. They shouldn't have taken it down. Since they issued a statement anyway, they should have just explained the many OTHER different (and usually positive) meanings of the symbol.

That is what I tried to do on my blog.

[Matt]

I'm re-posting this comment from the other story because everyone seems to be ignoring it. I still think it's the most plausible explanation. It's also a reminder that the internet is not something that occurs exclusively in English...

Here's a more likely explanation. If you do a Baidu News search (Baidu is the Chinese equivalent of Google), you'll find that there was a swastika-related story recently in the Chinese press that has gotten widespread coverage over the past week. apparently there was a big mural-type advertisement on a wall somewhere in xi'an (ancient capital of China, geographically speaking it's roughly in the center). the mural contained a painting of a long black train with a nazi-inspired swastika painted on the train's head. judging from the baidu news results, this story was literally reproduced in hundreds of online news outlets. my sense of the article is that it's meant to inspire shock (as in, how could they not know this looks like a nazi swastika?!), but also to provide the general lesson that the swastika has negative connotations outside of buddhism (for those who don't know anything about the nazis? also remember: Buddhism comes from India too). i'd say this story is what inspired all those google searches, and not the simple fact that "good luck is on their minds."

[Tetsuo]

Pfft, "most folks today don't recognize it as a symbol of Hinduism -- its primary meaning has been its association with the murderous racism of the Nazis." Actually HALF THE PLANET recognizes it as a holy symbol (China - 1 billion-plus, India - same). So in closing HURF DRUF FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

[Tetsuo]

Oh, and Matt? Chinese people already know what a swastika is, why would they Google it? Do many people in the Christian world Google the cross? Again, HURRRRR.

[salamandir]

You neglected to mention one of the most important aspects about the swastika, which is that it has a long history of being a symbol of peace, good luck, love and unity, lasting at least 5,000 years, and that only for the past 80 years or so has it meant anything other than peace and good luck. Prior to the 1930s, the swastika was used by every group of people on the planet, including Jews, as a symbol of peace and unity. It was only because of one, terribly misguided man - Hitler - that it came to have any other meaning. The swastika is actually one of the oldest symbols known to man, and to say that it is "the symbol of naziism" and "the swastika carries hateful connotations" without making any mention at all of the thousands of years of history prior to the nazis, the current use of the swastika by the Finnish Air Force (for example), as well as its current historical use by Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Chinese, Eastern Europeans, American Indians and other people throughout the world in its correct form as a symbol of peace and good luck, is poor scholarship - and poor reporting - at its very worst. A very few people, like the Canadian artist ManWoman - http://freewebs.com/manwomans/ - and myself - http://www.hybridelephant.com/ganesha.html - have been honoured with the task of reclaiming the swastika from the grip of those ignorant people who think that it only refers to nazi atrocities, which is a difficult task under the best of circumstances, but it is an even harder task when articles like this are printed, making absolutely no mention of the fact that it means anything other than what it has meant for only 80 years of its 5,000+ year history. As I frequently say to people who ask me about the Ganesha Yantra on my car, which incorporates both a swastika and a six-pointed star (also called a Star of David), after explaining the symbol's spiritual significance, "Are we to pay attention to the thousands of years of history in which the swastika was a sign of peace, or are we to pay attention only to the most recent 80 years, when the swastika was turned into a symbol that represents the most twisted, grotesque, and, hopefully, temporary form that has ever been the disgrace of humanity?" My preference is the former. If anybody should have a reason to resent my use of the swastika, it would be Jewish people, but most of the Jews I have talked to - and, in fact, most of the people in general, whether they are Jews or not - have encouraged me to continue my efforts to reclaim the swastika and make it into a symbol of peace again. If you think about it, the way to "get back" at the nazis the most for all of their atrocities, would be to take the symbol that represents them to most people and turn it back into a symbol of peace. I realise that the swastika provokes feelings of fear and anger in a lot of people, but when it is clearly used in a way that is the polar opposite of what the nazis stood for, people should begin to realise (it has been almost a century, after all) that the swastika has a meaning that goes much deeper than the shallow meaning that most people in this country try to give it.

[ami]

I won't repeat what Tetsuo, said so well, but I want to point out that the common misconception that the Hindu swastika spins one way and the nazi the opposite as posted by Zachary, is NOT true, both are ancient symbols of the energy spiralling out of the universe , one represents male energy , the other, female energy. I had to go into my 8 year old daughter s school, in the UK, and give a talk to the children on the swastika, and all the many countries it has been used as a symbol of good luck, and is still used, because her year was studying the second world war.
My daughter wanted me to explain to the class the meaning of our many swastikas at home, she was confused by the use of this symbol by such a bad man....My point is , children should be being educated at school about the true meaning of this symbol,my daughter s teacher was also ignorant of the history of the swastika. Still, all this time on, our government and media allow its history to rest with Hitler, when, in the first world war, the US Air Force had the swastika on their planes for good luck!!!.Come on people, the biggest "up yours" we can give to the nazis is to educate the next generation.
The swastika comes in many variations,and is still a universal sacred symbol.