Former UK PM Winston Churchill's image briefly disappeared from Google over the weekend

The former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s image, in a mysterious case, briefly disappeared from Google over the weekend. Several internet users were baffled and were unable to understand what had happened and demanded answers from the search engine. Netizens were surprised when a blank box appeared in place of Churchill’s photo when they searched for the list of World War II leaders. 

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Google apologises for the ‘glitch’ 

While the company ‘fixed it’ after several users tagged the tech giant demanding for answers. Netizens also pointed out that the pictures of Adolf Hitler, Stalin and Mao were still displaying on the search engine. However, the incident also triggered curiosity particularly amid anti-racism protests in central London, which led to Churchill’s statue being defaced with the word ‘racist’. 

With several internet users outraged and demanding answers, the tech company on June 14 took to Twitter to react to the complaints. In a series of tweets, Google apologised for the error and said that it wasn’t ‘purposeful and will be resolved’. The tech company also explained that the images in such panels are automatically created and updated and during one such update, the image disappeared. 

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Furthermore, the company also said that the glitch was temporary. The company wrote, "If a Knowledge Graph image is missing due to an update, the subject will be named but lack an image in anything automatically generated from the Knowledge Graph. This is why Churchill’s image (but not his name) is missing from some lists. It is temporary & will be resolved”. 

The mysterious incident also comes after British PM Boris Johnson reacted to the controversy surrounding Churchill’s legacy. As several Black Lives Matter demonstrators defaced the statue of the former PM in Parliament Square, Johnson called the incident ‘absurd and shameful’. Johnson also wrote that the statue is a reminder of the achievement in saving the country from fascist and racist tyranny. 

He also added, “Yes, he sometimes expressed opinions that were and are unacceptable to us today, but he was a hero, and he fully deserves his memorial”. 

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