Bengaluru: A mistranslation by Meta’s automatic translation tool sparked outrage after it wrongly declared Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah dead in an English version of a condolence post originally written in Kannada.
The post, issued by the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) on Tuesday to mourn the death of veteran actress B Saroja Devi, was auto-translated into English by Facebook. However, the faulty version 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 glaring error prompted sharp criticism from Siddaramaiah, who demanded that Meta immediately suspend its Kannada auto-translation feature until it is made accurate.
“"Faulty auto-translation of Kannada content on Meta platforms is distorting facts and misleading users. This is especially dangerous when it comes to official communications,” the Chief Minister said on X. “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.”
Siddaramaiah also shared a formal letter addressed to Meta by his media adviser KV Prabhakar, urging immediate action. The letter noted that incorrect translations could seriously affect public perception, particularly when dealing with sensitive or official communications.
“We have noted with concern that the auto-translation from Kannada to English is frequently inaccurate and, in some cases, grossly misleading,” the letter stated. This poses a significant risk, especially when public communications, official statements, or important messages from the Chief Minister are incorrectly translated,” the letter continued.
It further urged Meta to work closely with Kannada language experts to improve translation accuracy and contextual relevance.
Following the backlash, Meta rectified the translation error in the post and on Thursday issued an apology over the incorrect translation of Kannada into English on its platforms.
A spokesperson for the company said, “We fixed an issue that briefly caused this inaccurate Kannada translation. We apologize that this happened.” Meta explained that the error stemmed from its machine translation model on Facebook and confirmed that a fix had been implemented to improve accuracy.
The company added that it is “continuously gathering feedback” to enhance its AI systems and ensure more reliable and contextually accurate translations in the future.