Saturday, July 17, 2010

Exposing Hateful Lies on Google Searches in Pakistan

There are many hateful bigots in cyberspace and other biased media outlets that are constantly pushing various lies about Pakistanis. The latest in this malicious campaign are reports of "sexual perversion" and "obsession with sex" based on false reports about top Google searches in Pakistan. The fact is that such lies emanating from Fox News and picked up by Times of India have been denied by Google, according to Dawn. What is most unfortunate is that many misguided Pakistanis are quick to buy these lies. Some even start spreading these lies by self-righteously blogging about the salacious falsehoods without fact checking, which is relatively easy to do using Google Insights web page.

I just checked for the top 10 Google search terms in Pakistan since 2004 at Google Insights for Search site. Here they are:

1. Pakistan
2. Urdu
3. songs
4. games
5. Karachi
6. news
7. Youtube
8. Google
9. pictures
10. Yahoo

The "rising searches" include the following 10:

1. facebook
2. youtube
3. geo
4. google
5. videos
6. you
7. song
8. jang
9. news
10. games

Conspicuous by their absence are "sex" and related search terms in both of the above lists on Google Insights. While India and Indian cities show up near the top among the top ten lists for such searches, Pakistan and/or its cities are conspicuous by their absence in the top ten on Google Trends for "sex" and many related searches.

Related Links:

Google Insights for Search

Google Trends

Haq's Musings

Pakistan's Telecom Boom

Pakistan Tops Text Message Growth

WiMax Rollout in Pakistan

Mobile Internet in Pakistan

Low Literacy Threatens Pakistan's Future

Gender Gap in South Asia

Mobile Financial Services in Pakistan

ITU Internet Access Data by Countries

Financial Services in Pakistan

Distance Learning in Pakistan

Top 5 ICT4D Trends in 2010

ICT4D in Pakistani Hospital

ITCN Asia 2010 Conference in Karachi

State of Telecom Industry in Pakistan

39 comments:

Anonymous said...

You can also do searches on oral sex, anal sex and will not find Pak in top 10. However all sex related to animals like camel sex, snake sex, pak is top.

Either Pakistanis are pervert or something is seriously wrong about how google captures the trend.

p4k1stan said...

...it's because we don't drink the khamar and eat the khanzeer like our indian cousins next door, protects us from much corruption; once we wake up and realise we also have the best way of life (islam) will our situation improve...
btw, why would anybody want to google 'you'???

Yasir said...

I don't know why Western media published such report that is totally a lie

Riaz Haq said...

DC: "go to this site www.trends.google.com"

Thanks for your suggestion, I followed up on it. While India and Indian cities show up near the top among the top ten, Pakistan and/or its cities are conspicuous by their absence in the top ten on Google Trends for "sex" searches.

Anonymous said...

Riaz,

Instead of as usual finding fault with India, admit it that there was nothing wrong in the newsitem by Foxnews which clearly mentioned that Pakistan was #1 in only searches like "horse sex", "snake sex".

Also how is India being top of sex search any worse than Pakistan #1 in search of "rape sex".

What I can't fathom is why Pakistan is #1 in all absolute disgusting searches like snake sex, horse sex
or rape sex.

Zen, Munich, Germany said...

Has anyone got any credible explanation why everything related to Zoophilia, Pakistan is at the top(with India at second)? Given the internet penetration and per capita online hours, I'd have expected soem Scandinavian country or USA.

http://www.google.com/trends?q=animal+sex&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=0
15. How does counting and ranking of the top regions, cities, and languages work, and are they scaled differently?

To rank the top regions, cities, or languages, Google Trends first looks at a sample of all Google searches to determine the areas or languages from which we received the most searches for your first term. Then, for those top cities, Google Trends calculates the ratio of searches for your term coming from each city divided by total Google searches coming from the same city. The city ranking you see on the page and the bar charts alongside each city name both represent this ratio. When cities’ ratios are fairly close together, the corresponding bar graphs will be roughly the same length, and the exact ranking between these cities is less meaningful.

If you export the data to a .csv file, you’ll see numbers for the top regions and cities. These numbers are based on a scale where the top region or city for the search term which you’ve ranked the data by will be 1.0.


http://www.google.com/intl/en/trends/about.html#14

Riaz Haq said...

DC: "there was nothing wrong in the newsitem by Foxnews which clearly mentioned that Pakistan was #1 in only searches like "horse sex", "snake sex"."

Here is an excerpt from Fox report:

"The country also is tops -- or has been No. 1 -- in searches for "sex," "camel sex," "rape video," "child sex video" and some other searches that can't be printed here."

Let's look at the top 10 in Google Trends data for "sex" searches:

Vietnam, India and Egypt are #1, 2 and 3, and Pakistan does not show up in the top 10. Also Delhi, Jakarta and Mumbai are #1, 2 and 3 cities, and there are no Pakistani cities in the top 10.

For camel sex
searches, Pakistan is #1, followed by India at #2 and Egypt at #3, and Delhi is the top city. There are no Pakistani cities on this list of top 10. The top language, by the way, is Hebrew for "camel sex".

Similar data is seen for "horse sex" and "snake sex", with India close behind Pakistan among countries, and Indian cities topping the lists.

Other than living up to its reputation as being sensational ad salacious, Fox News is only selectively correct. It is wrong on search rankings of countries for the term "sex" and fails to mention the top cities and languages for several related terms.

Zen, Munich, Germany said...

"While India and Indian cities show up near the top among the top ten lists for such searches, Pakistan and/or its cities are conspicuous by their absence in the top ten on Google Trends for "sex" and many related searches. "

Riaz - Respect. Even in this case, there is something wrong about India! So while Pakistanis search for Hadees, Indians are enjoying porn, sitting in Mumbai and Delhi!!!

satwa gunam said...

http://www.google.com/trends?q=hot+sex&ctab=0

An interesting article and the trend. However there are following aspects which needs to be taken into account:

Country population vs computer users
anonymous proxy

Generally the suppression in the physical world leads to fantasies. Worst type of curbs exist in the islamic world than anywhere in the world.

Anybody with a fair view will understand the tourist spot of open bahrain for saudi. So it exist in the every pocket near the place where the maximum suppression happens.

satwa gunam said...

Interesting is that the sexual perversion is high in the asian countries especially in the urban centre. It is probably the fight for survival and long days out in the city away from the family could be. However this must be taken with a pinch of salt as the number of computer user and the uniqueness of these queries.

Riaz Haq said...

gunam: "However this must be taken with a pinch of salt as the number of computer user and the uniqueness of these queries."

You hit the nail on the head. These queries are very unique. If you simply change the search terms from simple words like "animal sex" to "bestial sex" or "bestiality", you get very different Google trends data and country rankings.

Riaz Haq said...

gunam: "Country population vs computer users anonymous proxy"

I think Google trends data is based on sampling, not 100% of the searches. I believe populations of users are normalized.

Anonymous said...

a bigger issue that just surfaced up...

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=251725

anoop said...

Riaz,

The TOI report doesnt say 'Donkey Sex' or any other sort is in the top ten of Pakistani searches.

I checked Google Trends myself with terms 'Donkey sex' the day TOI took the story from an American news outlet. Not only Pakistan was at the top Lahore was the top city. In 2-3 days Lahore has been replaced by cities below it and Lahore is nowhere to be seen in the top ten! How did that sudden change happen?
Answer: Google removed it from City list. But, not from country list which will be too obvious and will be noticed.

Pakistan is a closed society,like all Islamic societies. Top searches for porn come from many Islamic countries, that is understandable.

I am not saying at all sex is a bad thing or searching for porn is bad. I believe Sex is good but Lust is bad.

Searching for Sex or Porn is fine,but, for 'Donkey Sex'?

http://www.google.com/trends?q=donkey+sex

And, just have a look at the graph there. Pakistan's,ahem, bar is longer than even Horse's tail(wink) and taller than the next 5 country's bar put together on the list! In this list Pakistan just beats India hands down.

Its not a new news to me. Ahsan from Five Rupees had pointed this out way before Obama got elected or Bomb attacks sponsored by RAW(another wink) started tearing Pakistan apart.

Here, is the link.

http://us.asiancorrespondent.com/stories/?b=fiverupees&mo=4&yo=2007

He had written this post way back in 2007. And, Riaz, this is not a conspiracy by Google. It took 3 years for the International media to notice this.

Riaz Haq said...

anoop: "Searching for Sex or Porn is fine,but, for 'Donkey Sex'?"

What you conveniently left out is that Delhi and Mumbai are the top 2 cities for "donkey sex", according to Google Trends. Delhi also tops in "horse sex" and there are no Pakistani cities in the top 10 for it.

Also look at the languages. Searches from Pakistan are entirely in English, and English language searches are #7 on the list, and Arabic is #9.

Google search terms are very unique, and if you use a different word for the same thing, you end up with very different top 10 lits. For example if you look at search trends for "bestiality", a more sophisticated term for "animal sex", you get very different results. Neither India nor Pakistan show up among the top 10 for "bestiality", revealing the amateurish nature of South Asian searchers driven more by curiosity than intent.

anoop said...

Riaz,

Read my post completely. I agree that most of the searches on the topic are for curiosity. But, the fact remains that Lahore has been taken off the City List. Delhi and Mumbai were following Lahore 3 days ago. But, now its nowhere to be seen,even in the top ten. And, the graph for Lahore was longer than the next 5 cities combined.

http://asiancorrespondent.com/fiverupees-images/799-Cow+Sex.jpg

Here, is the link of the Google Trends screen-shot from Five Rupees blog written 3 years ago.

Another, non-tampered Trends screen-shot from 2007.

http://asiancorrespondent.com/fiverupees-images/799-Cow+Sex.jpg

Another one which comprehensively proves that Google Trends was tampered with.

http://asiancorrespondent.com/fiverupees-images/732-Popularity+Contest.jpg

Mind you all the screen-shots is from a Pakistani's blog and was taken in 2007! It wasn't even an issue then. So your Pakistan does beat India hands down in those searches.

P.S. You might want to read Rs.5 post completely before you comment further. Here, is the link again.

http://us.asiancorrespondent.com/stories/?b=fiverupees&mo=4&yo=2007

Riaz Haq said...

anoop: "But, the fact remains that Lahore has been taken off the City List. Delhi and Mumbai were following Lahore 3 days ago. But, now its nowhere to be seen,even in the top ten. And, the graph for Lahore was longer than the next 5 cities combined...Another one which comprehensively proves that Google Trends was tampered with.
"

It's funny that you are arguing that Google tampers with the data. If you are right, how can one accept any Google data as valid?

As to Indian cities of Delhi and Mumbai and other cities like Chennai, you can find them on top for just not one but many sex related search stats.

For example, "animal sex" shows three Indian cities at or near the top, no Pak cities.

Similarly, four Indian cities are at the top for "rape sex", and no Pak cities.

It's the same story for other similar searches, with Indian cities topping the list. Do you think Google has something against India?

anoop said...

Riaz,

Yes. I knew you would bring that up. What I am saying is before this controversy broke out the results were not tampered with. Just before Pak media caught hold of it I have seen the results myself. The Results are the same but with one omission. Omission of Lahore from the City List. It appeared in 2007 when I did some research of my own and 3 days ago Lahore's name appeared. But, for some reason Google has removed the mention of Lahore. They must have thought nobody will notice it and issue will lessen to an extent.

I just showed you 2007 screen-shots but I cant provide screen-shots from 3 days ago. All mention of Pakistani cities from "such" search trends have been deleted. Well, most of them. But, country-wise they haven't changed it.

Riaz Haq said...

anoop: "What I am saying is before this controversy broke out the results were not tampered with. Just before Pak media caught hold of it I have seen the results myself. The Results are the same but with one omission. Omission of Lahore from the City List."

You think the Google search stats tampered now and not before because it suits you. What you don;t explain is as to why didn't remove Pakistan from the country list if you think they tampered in response to controversy.

The fact is these searches are done by the curious country bumpkins (aka paindoos) in Pakistan but the searches in India emanate from the urban middle class Indians in major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai etc.

It's also clear from Google Insights data that such searches do not account for the top 10 searches in either country.

Anonymous said...

STATEMENT ON THE MURDER OF GUJARAT RTI ACTIVIST AMIT JETHAVA

Prashant. A Centre for Human Rights, Justice and Peace
Post Box No. 4050, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad 380 009, Gujarat, India
Tel. : +91 (079) 66522333, 2745 5913. Fax : +91 (079) 2748 9018
www.humanrightsindia.in

STATEMENT ON THE MURDER OF GUJARAT RTI ACTIVIST AMIT JETHAVA

We condemn the brutal murder of RTI activist AMIT JETHAVA who was shot dead in Ahmedabad, last night.

Our heartfelt sympathies to his widow and his two children and pray that they have the strength to bear this great loss.

Amit was well known in RTI circles and took up several environmental issues in and around the Gir Forests. His most recent PIL was on illegal mining in the Gir and in this connection he has also named powerful ruling politicians.

This murder is a clear indication that vested interests, including politicians, will stop at nothing in Gujarat. It is high time that civil society in the State come out in large numbers and protest the rot that is overpowering the State.

Fr. Cedric Prakash sj
Director

21st July, 2010

anoop said...

Riaz,

I am not claiming Lahore's name is removed from the City List but I am absolutely certain.

Back in 2007 when I read the blog about the weird searches that emanated from Pakistan I had done a R&D of my own to have some fun. Lahore's name was there then. Now, after the TOI report I tried again 4 days ago from now and Lahore's name was there. To my surprise 2 days ago from now when I checked it was GONE!!

As you must have noticed Pakistan's graph is bigger than the next 5 countries combined. Lahore and Karachi are only cities in Pakistan which can be called Metropolis and consequently have the majority of Internet users in Pakistan. Not surprising one bit to see the name of Lahore on that list,which is removed now.

Mumbai and Delhi are India's largest cities but there are plenty of other cities which can be considered metropolis. Internet usage has penetrated equally in all these cities but Mumbai and Delhi are way bigger than Chennai or Kolkata, their closest rivals and have more Internet users than whole of Pakistan. Hence, Pakistan's city's name is hardly surprising and strange considering Karachi has a bigger population than Lahore(I think).

I have provided you proof that back in 2007 Pakistan dominated the charts. But, how can I go back in time and provide proof? I'll be on guard and when I come across I'll definitely show it to you to convincingly prove my point.

But, in the meanwhile be happy that Pakistan is the unmistakable winner of the weirdest sex searches contest.

anoop said...

Irfan Hussain in Dawn writes,

"When a society is segregated by gender — as most Muslim countries are — normal interest in the other sex is replaced by obsessive curiosity. This results in the kind of secretive Internet searches of deviant websites in Pakistan that Google Trends has reported. It also results in a high incidence of rape, as well as child molestation. When normal human urges are suppressed, they all too often express themselves in violent acts."

Riaz Haq said...

anoop: "Lahore and Karachi are only cities in Pakistan which can be called Metropolis and consequently have the majority of Internet users in Pakistan. Not surprising one bit to see the name of Lahore on that list,which is removed now."

It's clear that you don't know much about Pakistani cities. Faisalabad is Pakistan's third largest city with 6 or 7 million people in the metropolitan area, and the twin-cities of Rawalpindi-Islamabad is not far behind. These cities are comparable to Chennai for example.

Pakistan is much more urbanized than India and about 11% of Pakistanis have access to the Internet vs 7% of Indians, according to ITU.

Also, you don't seem to understand that the Google stats are based on sampling, not based on 100% of the searches done. And the error depends on the sampling size...which is not known because Google methodology is not transparent.

What you also ignore is the fact that multiple different unique search terms can be used to find the same thing (I gave you the example of bestiality vs. animal sex) and the stats and top 10 lists of countries and cities change dramatically in Google Trends.

Regardless, big Indian cities dominate almost all of the searches you talk about...an it's not based on absolute number of users but based on sample data.

Anonymous said...

shut up anoop. Pakistan is not the winner in weird searches because people want those searches, but because google's trend analysis is horrible. try looking for "incest". India comes #1. However Pak is #1 in "incest sex",followed by India.
Point to be noted is incest sex is redundant as incest itself means the same.

anoop said...

Riaz,

Sampling issues will always be there. But, for 3 years? Since, 2007(probably since the dot com decade ended) Pakistan has been ruling the charts. Sampling issues for one sample set of data is understandable. When it is repeated over 3 years it is fair to consider it a strong trend. Lets see in a year what will happen. If its a sampling glitch it should go away right? I can bet it will not.

http://www.google.com/intl/en/trends/about.html#7

Anonymous said...

"Pakistan is much more urbanized than India and about 11% of Pakistanis have access to the Internet vs 7% of Indians, according to ITU."

Note sure about 11%. Per ISPAK it is actually only 4%.

http://propakistani.pk/2009/08/12/pakistani-internet-users-to-hit-22-million-mark-in-2013/

Also of what use is urbanization and IT penetration if it does not translate to real benefit. We all know where India stands in IT work, jobs and opportunities compared to Pak.

I recently bought Kindle and I saw that India was one of the countries where kindle works. Also quite a few indian newspapers and magazines are there. Pakistan ???? No where in the list.

It is high time you stop behaving immaturely in this kiddish comparison with India.

Riaz Haq said...

From the Indian poster Namit Arora on 3 Quarks Daily:

Ok, let’s say that I decided to study the frequency of keyword searches as a scholar might, and then see what conclusions are warranted from it. I will need to do at least the following:

1. First, I’ll need to normalize the searches across languages, across equivalent terms used in, say, Russian, Italian, Serbian, etc.

2. Then I’ll need to normalize across the demographics of Internet users. If males dominate Internet use in a country, might they be skewing their country’s per capita occurrence of certain search terms? In Pakistan, males outnumber females by more than 3:1 for regular use and 7:1 for occasional use of the Internet.

3. Then I’ll need to normalize for how integrated the Internet is in a culture’s way of life – do people widely turn to it to look up kebab joints, street maps, movies, sports, and banking, or is it still early days – not enough local info online yet and people prefer newspapers, radio, TV, and word-of-mouth, perhaps it’s still a relatively novel and foreign import, with porn being much more of a “killer app” at this stage.

And so on. Then I might begin to have some apples-to-apples data. Making sense of it and drawing reliable conclusions about, say, sexual repression will be my next challenge.

FOX looked up some keywords on Google Trends. So I did the same and found these interesting tidbits:

1. On searches for "horse sex" worldwide, Finland ranks 4, Australia 6, Denmark 8, US 9, Canada 10.

2. On "violent rape", Belgium is 3, Australia 4, Canada 6, UK 7, US 8, France 9, Italy 10.

3. On "dog sex", Australia is 5, US 6, Canada 7, Finland 8, UK 9, Hungary 10.

4. On "sheep sex", Ireland is 1, New Zealand 2, Australia 3, UK 4, US 5, Canada 6.

5. On "child rape", US is 7, New Zealand 8, Australia 9, Canada 10.

6. On "child porn", New Zealand is 3, Australia 6, Canada 7, Norway 8, US 10.

7. On "pregnant rape", UK is 2, US 3, Canada 4, Germany 5.

Note that these are English search terms, so non-English speaking countries (at least on the Internet), are less likely to show. Pakistanis on the Internet use English (despite limited average proficiency and vocabulary); it's more surprising to see the French and Italians searching for "violent rape".

The search for "camel sex" understandably brings in Israel, UAE and Saudi Arabia in the top 10, but also Portugal and Switzerland. People in the Alps dreaming of humping camels? Go figure!

Anonymous said...

riaz, can you please close this thread and start a new one, a one far more important than worrying about what people search.

see this
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/21/world/asia/21kashmir.html?_r=1&hp

a concerned pakistani.

Riaz Haq said...

DC:

Here's the ITU data on Pakistan:

http://www.internetworldstats.com/asia/pk.htm

Anonymous said...

Riaz, In the link I mentioned your link was mentioned and questioned. In fact exact users is questionable, per my link.

"Update: It merits mentioning here that as per a Internet World Stats there are already 17.5 million internet users, in Pakistan. However, ISPAK believe there are 5 to 6 million internet users in Pakistan – as of now.

PTA is already planning to know the exact number of internet users in Pakistan – which is apparently still not known to anyone.

"

DC (can not login to AOL account)

Vishal said...

Riaz,

Generally your articles are way more mature than this. This seems to have been written by a 5 year old kid.

What are you comparing here? Who bangs more Goats, Indians or Pakistanis. LOL !! Come'on, at least leave the goats and sheep alone.

And for record sake, Delhi does not have Camels. Either something is seriously wrong with Google, or all Delhi Girls have suddenly mutated :)

-Vishal

Anonymous said...

Assalaamu 'Alaikum all
Pakistan is #1 in the following as per today.
Allah
Rasool
Hazrat
Muhammad
Prophet
Quran
Mosque
Azaan
Hadith
Makkah
Madina
Kaba
Ramzan
Durood
Ibadat
Tauba
Jannat
Surah
Shariah
Caliphate
Hajj
Qibla
neorient@gmail.com

Anonymous said...

Riaz, you don't understand how google trends and insight work, hence your ignorance in the original post as well as all the comments later in which you have replied.

1. it is not about what search terms are most common in a country -- it is about which countries most commonly search for a particular search string or term

2. google trends/insight data is not normalized by populations -- no wonder south asian countries (most densely populated part of the world) rank highly in most search terms

3. point #2 above also explains why india and indian cities also rank highly -- indian population is about 8 times that of pak

Riaz Haq said...

Pakistani liberals at Express Tribune continue to parrot 3rd hand western and Indian propaganda against Pakistanis and Muslims as a bunch of sex-starved animals. And some of our liberal friends are quick to post such nonsense on Facebook. One only needs to do a quick check of Google trends to see how false such propaganda is. India as a country and most major Indian cities are at or near the top for such searches. Other countries doing these searches include Papua New Guinea, Triniad, Solomon Islands, etc. Top 3 cities for such searches are New Delhi, Pune and Mumbai.
http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=porn%2C%20pigs%2C%20donkeys&cmpt=q&tz=

Riaz Haq said...

TOP TEN PORN VIEWING COUNTRIES
1. United States
2. United Kingdom
3. Canada
4. India
5. Germany
6. France
7. Italy
8. Australia
9. Brazil
10. Mexico


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2903518/2014-year-porn-went-MOBILE-Stats-reveal-Android-users-watch-Monday-popular-day-tune-in.html#ixzz3PCQDfvVM
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

Riaz Haq said...


What if I were to tell you that Google never released a survey on global porn consumerismp?

I decided to do some Google “trending” of my own. As per Google Trends, in terms of porn-related searches by region, Papua New Guinea tops the list which is followed by Trinidad and Tobago, Solomon Islands, our beloved India, Fiji and then Pakistan, ranking sixth in the top 10.

In terms of cities, New Delhi, Pune and Mumbai top the list, followed by Kuala Lumpur, Dublin, Dallas and London. None of the Pakistani cities are included in the top 10 cities of the world. Yup, not one
Salon, on its website, states that it is, “an award-winning news magazine and online community that creates original journalism and amplifies the best of hundreds of other independent media sources” operating from the US. I think the word “amplifies” describes their motto accurately.

To further “sensationalise” the porn-conundrum, their sub-head on the story states that:

“Data reveal six of the top eight porn-searching countries are Muslim states. It’s not as surprising as it sounds.”

While many different media outlets may have posted the story on their respective websites, the results found in the above-mentioned Google trends expose the contentious credibility of this ‘award winning news magazine’. Just because an online magazine says “data released by Google” does not make it true.

Things like these make one wonder whether ethical journalism will ever trump ratings.

Yes, you can call us out on the terrorism that plagues our country, the women’s rights we do not always offer, our struggle for education, and other areas we know we are at the losing end, and we will agree with you whole-heartedly. But to concoct something from the figment of your (very creative) imagination is something we will not permit. I do not, in any way, doubt Pakistan’s porn… ‘habits’, but suggesting that we top the list in order to defame us and other Muslim countries reeks of a vendetta. Before doing so, might I suggest quitting your job as journalists so that the profession is not smeared by this unethical campaign? I mean seriously, I don’t see what religion had to do with it anyway.

What is it about Pakistan’s porn statistics that interests the world so much? Yes, we watch porn. You do too. So what? Agreed, we like making headlines as much as any other country does, but to pick on us for all the wrong reasons is beyond me. Sure, sometimes it is justified – like reports on the Karachi airport attack, the Peshawar school attack, Osama Bin Laden being found in Abbottabad – but porn, really? While I understand there is nothing better than talking about Pakistan, I also believe that most of these stories are not even ‘newsworthy’ let alone front page material. Trust me, we have a lot of newsworthy stories you can tap into here.

It’s like people have Pakistan on Google Alerts – every time something happens in Pakistan, their hands get fidgety and a headline is concocted. It’s like,

Real story: “Dog dies in an accident in Pakistan”

Global media: “Dog dies in Pakistan because Shia-Sunni conflict, Islam, India-Pakistan, terrorism, Muslim, pornistan, Taliban, sex, burqa, rape (etcetera) crossed into Lyari.”

And oh yes, the excerpt to this story is,

“All of this threatens the western world.”

Yes, sex and everything related to it sells. But to say that it’s selling most in Pakistan, a country still struggling with a YouTube ban, a country where a majority of explicit (and non-explicit, mind you) websites are banned, is like saying Pakistan has hidden oil reserves and gold mines. We might not top the list for porn-searching, but Salon clearly tops the list for fabricating news and spewing hate against my country. Sensationalism may bring you ratings, but credibility is like virginity – once lost, you are not getting it back. A lesson you should have learnt during your little porn search extravaganza.

http://blogs.tribune.com.pk/story/25840/did-pakistan-really-top-the-porn-searching-list/

Riaz Haq said...

The bizarre rise of a massively popular most googled #Indian-#Canadian #porn star Sunny Leone in ever-prudish #India

http://theweek.com/articles/595515/bizarre-rise-massively-popular-porn-star-everprudish-india …


For four years in a row, the most Googled person in India has been Sunny Leone. Who? The daughter of Indian immigrants to Canada, Leone was a successful pornography star in America before returning to India to launch a movie career in Bollywood, where even kissing on screen is taboo. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi might win elections, he loses to Leone in Google searches. In 2014, the year Modi was elected in a landslide that effectively decimated the secular-socialist Congress Party that had dominated the country until then, he was second to Leone. And in 2015 he was a pathetic 10th.

India is a conservative society and Modi comes from a brand of Hindutva or Hindu nationalism that wants to stop India's drift toward the West and restore traditional standards of sexual modesty. Hindutva hotheads have been known to forcibly marry couples just for hanging out on Valentine's Day because romance before marriage, as far as they are concerned, is Western debauchery. Modi's health minister considers sex education in schools as an invitation to licentiousness and wants to replace it with mandatory yoga classes. So what is Leone doing in Modi's India?

However, to really understand India, the emerging nation, the better question might be: What is Modi doing in Leone's India?

The conventional explanation for the parallel popularity of Modi and Leone might be that India is a "land of contradictions": extreme poverty coexists with extreme wealth; extreme pacifism with extreme violence; extreme veneration of women with extreme disrespect. Hence, Modi, who seems never to have had sex with anyone (he left his wife without consummating his marriage and took a vow of celibacy that plays well with Indian voters), and Leone, who has made a career out of having sex on screen with everyone (men, women, and inanimate objects) are just another one of those Indian dualities. Modi appeals to the chastity-worshipping side of India and Leone the Kama Sutra-practicing side. They are India's yin and yang.

But this explanation misses the tectonic shifts reshaping India's cultural landscape.

All prudish societies typically have an underside that serves as a safety valve for pent up sexual tensions. But Leone is not merely the cyber equivalent of the red light districts of Victorian England — a taboo that libidinous Indian men secretly enjoy via a computer and an internet connection. To be sure, Indian men partake in their share of pornography (six of the world's top 10 cities for pornography downloads are in India), but Leone's appeal is not limited to them.

Her Indian movies, steamy B-grade blockbusters that push the limits of Bollywood (which itself pushes the limits of Indian prudery), are household favorites. Their song-and-dance routines are played at virtually every Indian wedding. In fact, Leone notes, she is "embraced with open arms" at private Indian events. Even wives and sisters eagerly pose with her for pictures. This is in sharp contrast to the Indian-Canadian community in her hometown of Sarnia, Ontario, which has ostracized Leone.

All of this would be less remarkable if Leone made some attempt to hide her past or apologize for it. But she doesn't. To the contrary, in her debut appearance on India's Bigg Boss, a popular reality-TV show, Leone, in a carefully orchestrated marketing move, told the entire country that she was an "adult film entertainer" in America. What's more, instead of saying she was forced into a tawdry career by economic necessity or family need, she nonchalantly asserted that this was her "choice" — meaning that of all her options for making a living, she chose monetizing her body. "I am good at turning a quarter into a dollar," she says.

Riaz Haq said...

#India’s most googled person is a #Canada born porn star Sonny Leone now in #Bollywood http://on.thestar.com/1RHi0uZ via @torontostar
The most googled person in India hails from Sarnia, Ontario.
Sunny Leone, a Bollywood movie star, is the best-known Canadian in this nation of almost 1.3 billion.
Leone has topped India’s Google searches every year since 2012 — eclipsing even wildly popular Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
A daily fixture on the Bollywood pages of India’s thousands of newspapers, she appears in ads for energy drinks, her own line of perfume and condoms—a wink at her early career starring in American porn films.
Leone exudes Canadian modesty when discussing her fame in the world’s largest movie industry, which annually releases more than twice as many productions as Hollywood.
“I just see myself as a girl that just wants to work and is happy doing that. I know it all goes hand in hand but for me I’m just following my dream of working in Bollywood,” she told the Star last week.
Born Karenjit Kaur Vohra in Canada 34 years ago, she has happy memories of her childhood in southwestern Ontario before her family moved to the U.S. when she was a teenager.
“It was great growing up in Sarnia — great place for kids to grow up,” said Leone, whose parents have since passed away.

Unapologetically liberal in a country with strict film censorship rules that prohibit nudity from being shown on screen, Leone gained even greater prominence last month after a contentious interview with journalist Bhupendra Chaubey on CNN’s Indian network.
In a scolding tone, Chaubey condemned her “past as a porn queen” and suggested she was causing the spread of pornography in India.
Repeatedly haranguing the poised Leone, he quoted politicians who have publicly accused her of “corrupting Indian minds, Indian morality.”
Afterward, many in India rallied to her defence, saying no male Bollywood star would have ever been treated so disrespectfully.
“That was literally NOT an interview . . . just a hyper-opinionated statement with a question mark at the end. No grace? Chivalry? Ridiculous,” tweeted rising star Alia Bhatt, whose parents are also Bollywood players.
Writer and filmmaker Sandhya Gokhale penned Leone an open letter praising “your dignified composure throughout the attempted public lynching by an immature, crass interviewer on national television.”
“He tried to abnegate your present; his was a blatant misogyny. His look was torn between personal lust and cultural impairment,” wrote Gokhale on Friday.
Leone was philosophical about the encounter, reflecting on her own successful transition to mainstream Indian stardom in a nation of traditional values.
“I believe out of a very uncomfortable situation some positive has come from it,” the actress said.
“Women and men have commented on my calmness, but for me, I don’t really get that angry or flustered, so I just really wanted to answer the questions to the best of my abilities,” she said.

Riaz Haq said...

Rise of #Canada-born #SunnyLeone, massively popular #porn star and most-Googled person in #India. #Bollywood

http://theweek.com/articles/595515/bizarre-rise-massively-popular-porn-star-everprudish-india


For four years in a row, the most Googled person in India has been Sunny Leone. Who? The daughter of Indian immigrants to Canada, Leone was a successful pornography star in America before returning to India to launch a movie career in Bollywood, where even kissing on screen is taboo. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi might win elections, he loses to Leone in Google searches. In 2014, the year Modi was elected in a landslide that effectively decimated the secular-socialist Congress Party that had dominated the country until then, he was second to Leone. And in 2015 he was a pathetic 10th.

India is a conservative society and Modi comes from a brand of Hindutva or Hindu nationalism that wants to stop India's drift toward the West and restore traditional standards of sexual modesty. Hindutva hotheads have been known to forcibly marry couples just for hanging out on Valentine's Day because romance before marriage, as far as they are concerned, is Western debauchery. Modi's health minister considers sex education in schools as an invitation to licentiousness and wants to replace it with mandatory yoga classes. So what is Leone doing in Modi's India?

However, to really understand India, the emerging nation, the better question might be: What is Modi doing in Leone's India?

The conventional explanation for the parallel popularity of Modi and Leone might be that India is a "land of contradictions": extreme poverty coexists with extreme wealth; extreme pacifism with extreme violence; extreme veneration of women with extreme disrespect. Hence, Modi, who seems never to have had sex with anyone (he left his wife without consummating his marriage and took a vow of celibacy that plays well with Indian voters), and Leone, who has made a career out of having sex on screen with everyone (men, women, and inanimate objects) are just another one of those Indian dualities. Modi appeals to the chastity-worshipping side of India and Leone the Kama Sutra-practicing side. They are India's yin and yang.

But this explanation misses the tectonic shifts reshaping India's cultural landscape.

All prudish societies typically have an underside that serves as a safety valve for pent up sexual tensions. But Leone is not merely the cyber equivalent of the red light districts of Victorian England — a taboo that libidinous Indian men secretly enjoy via a computer and an internet connection. To be sure, Indian men partake in their share of pornography (six of the world's top 10 cities for pornography downloads are in India), but Leone's appeal is not limited to them.

Her Indian movies, steamy B-grade blockbusters that push the limits of Bollywood (which itself pushes the limits of Indian prudery), are household favorites. Their song-and-dance routines are played at virtually every Indian wedding. In fact, Leone notes, she is "embraced with open arms" at private Indian events. Even wives and sisters eagerly pose with her for pictures. This is in sharp contrast to the Indian-Canadian community in her hometown of Sarnia, Ontario, which has ostracized Leone.

All of this would be less remarkable if Leone made some attempt to hide her past or apologize for it. But she doesn't. To the contrary, in her debut appearance on India's Bigg Boss, a popular reality-TV show, Leone, in a carefully orchestrated marketing move, told the entire country that she was an "adult film entertainer" in America. What's more, instead of saying she was forced into a tawdry career by economic necessity or family need, she nonchalantly asserted that this was her "choice" — meaning that of all her options for making a living, she chose monetizing her body. "I am good at turning a quarter into a dollar," she says.