NEW DELHI (AFP) — India's top court has asked Google, Microsoft and Yahoo to respond to charges that they illegally advertise gender selection products, an activist and a lawyer said Wednesday.
India bans tests that allow people to know the gender of unborn children -- a law designed to tackle widespread abortion of female foetuses.
"These companies are making a lot of money by doing highly targeted and selective advertising of these products," said Sabu George, an activist leading the campaign.
"Our petition seeks to block these advertisements."
Most Indians prefer sons because they can earn more money in the workplace, while girls are seen as a financial burden because of the matrimonial dowry demanded by a groom's family.
"The court has issued a notice to Google, Microsoft and Yahoo asking them to reply to our petition," Sanjay Parikh, a lawyer who lodged the complaint, told AFP.
The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) says India loses 7,000 girls every day through abortion.
Campaigners say the courts have intervened in the past to block newspaper advertisements of sex selection tests.
Parikh said the petition had been submitted along with letters from the government in which it agrees that the Internet advertisements are illegal.
The Internet companies did not immediately respond to media queries about the case.
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