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Google Witchcraft

Google needs to be careful where it uses its special-occasion mastheads. Here in Cameroon, I can't wear a t-shirt with bones on it because bones are associated with very real, very serious witchcraft. It's offensive not just in a, "oh, that's tacky" way or a "ooo, that's inappropriate" way, but in a fear for your life kind of way. Today, I opened up the Google Cameroon homepage and saw this seasonal Halloween tribute. It was nice and homey for me as an American. But for a Cameroonian, it's much worse than inappropriate.

Google Cameroon on the day after Halloween

These things are fine for Western Google sites, but Google needs to make itself a little plainer and safer for high-context regions where it doesn't know the context.

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