Meta has apologized for a significant translation error that falsely declared the death of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah while he was paying tribute to a deceased Indian actress on social media.
The error occurred when Siddaramaiah posted a tribute in Kannada, Karnataka’s official language, honoring the late Indian actress B. Saroja Devi on Instagram. He shared similar posts on Facebook and X, but Meta’s automatic translation tool distorted the message, suggesting that the Chief Minister himself had died.
According to CNN affiliate News 18, the erroneous translation read: “Chief Minister Siddaramaiah passed away yesterday multilingual star, senior actress B. Took darshan of Sarojadevi’s earthly body and paid his last respects.” The mistranslation completely reversed the intended meaning of the tribute post.
A Meta spokesperson acknowledged the error and issued an apology, stating: “We fixed an issue that briefly caused this inaccurate Kannada translation. We apologize that this happened.”
The incident prompted a strong response from Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who condemned the translation tool as “dangerous” in subsequent posts on Facebook and X. He warned that such negligence from technology companies could severely damage public trust and highlighted the potential consequences of inaccurate translations.
Siddaramaiah’s office formally addressed the issue by sending an official email to Meta expressing “serious concern” about the platform’s translation performance, particularly on Facebook and Instagram. The correspondence, titled “Urgent Request to Address Faulty Auto-Translation of Kannada Content on Meta Platforms,” called for immediate action to rectify the ongoing problems.
The email urged Meta to temporarily suspend its auto-translation feature for Kannada content until accuracy improvements could be implemented. It also recommended that the company collaborate with Kannada language experts to enhance translation quality and prevent similar incidents in the future.
The Chief Minister’s office described Meta’s Kannada-to-English translations as “frequently inaccurate and, in some cases, grossly misleading,” emphasizing that mistranslations of public or official communications could cause widespread confusion among the public.
The email further stressed that inaccurate translations from a constitutional office like the Chief Minister’s position could result in unacceptable misrepresentations with far-reaching implications.
Despite Meta’s claim to have fixed the issue, problems persisted as of Friday. The company’s updated translation of the original Instagram post remained incorrect, stating: “The multilingual star, senior actress B Sarojadevi who passed away yesterday, paid his last respects.”
This latest controversy adds to Meta’s recent challenges, following a previous incident where the company apologized for a technical glitch that exposed some Instagram users to violent content. The Karnataka translation error highlights the ongoing challenges technology companies face in providing accurate automated translations for regional languages, particularly in sensitive contexts involving public officials and formal communications.
