 "Meta apologises for faulty Kannada translations after CM's complaint")
Meta has issued an apology after Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah raised concerns over incorrect Kannada translations on its platforms. The social media company said it has resolved the issue.
Siddaramaiah had earlier on Thursday expressed concern about the inaccurate automatic translation of Kannada content on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. He said the errors were distorting facts and misleading the public.
“Faulty auto-translation of Kannada content on Meta platforms is distorting facts and misleading users. This is especially dangerous when it comes to official communication. My media advisor has formally written to Meta urging immediate correction,” the chief minister wrote on X.
Meta responds and issues apology
In response, a spokesperson for Meta said, “We fixed an issue that briefly caused this inaccurate Kannada translation. We apologise that this happened.” The company said the error originated in its AI-powered machine translation system, which led to incorrect Kannada translations, particularly on Facebook. Meta claimed that the problem has now been fixed, according to a report by the Press Trust of India.
Siddaramaiah urged social media companies to act responsibly, especially when handling official messages. He also warned citizens to be cautious about auto-translated content online. “Social media platforms must act responsibly. I caution citizens to be aware that translations shown are often inaccurate. Such negligence by tech giants can harm public understanding and trust,” he added.
Karnataka seeks suspension of translation feature
The chief minister’s media advisor, KV Prabhakar, formally raised the issue with Meta in an email dated 16 July. On behalf of the CM, he urged the company to address the automatic translation errors on Facebook and Instagram. The Karnataka government has also requested Meta to temporarily disable the auto-translation feature for Kannada content until the translations become more accurate.
Meta's machine translations appear in various places, such as public bios and specific content on both Facebook and Instagram. The error in question stemmed from the automatic translation of Kannada text, which the company now claims has been corrected.