Google Now Lets Users in India Remove Non-Consensual Images from Search

In celebration of Safer Internet Day, Google has introduced a new tool to help users in India remove explicit and non-consensual images from Google Search. This is part of Google's "Safer with Google" initiative and is aimed at curbing online harassment, deepfakes and AI-generated images.

Google search makes it easier to remove explicit and non-consensual image

The official Google Blog post has outlined that the process to request and get images removed from search is now simpler and frictionless. Users will no longer need to visit the "Results about you" tool in the My Activity section. Instead, they can simply do the needful from the searched images themselves.

As it is evident from the above image, the 3-dots icon now contains a new Remove result option, which users can click to select from four different removal reasons. Once selected, a new Google Support page will open with detailed removal policy and instructions.

It will contain a new Start removal request button. Aside from images, the page clearly mentions that data like address, phone number, email, ID, usermane and password can also be removed from search results using the same process. To complete the image removal process, users will need to fill in some basic details like why they are requesting personal content removal from Google Search, their personal details and country of residence.

Once done, Google will submit the user's request and send a confirmation email for the same. At the time of writing, there is no limit as to how many requests can be raised or what kind of images are barred from removal. It is also important to note that Google will only remove the images from search results, and not from the web entirely.

Hence, for added protection, Google will also allow users to opt in to safeguards which can filter out explicit image search results and flag similar searches. That said, the new image removal from the search tool is rolling out globally across regions. It is particularly important in India since the Government recently mandated new rules for AI generated contents. This is an important step to safeguard the citizens' interests amidst the rise of AI generated images and unauthorised deep fake contents.