This Week in Translation: Global Language News Roundup
On July 15, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah shared a condolence message in Kannada mourning the death of actress B. Saroja Devi. But Meta’s automatic translation wrongly read:
“Chief Minister Siddaramaiah passed away yesterday…” India TV News
This mistranslation suggested the Chief Minister himself had died and this has fuelled shock and confusion.
Siddaramaiah called the error “distorting facts and misleading users,” calling it especially dangerous when dealing with official communications.
His media advisor formally wrote to Meta on July 16, urging them to temporarily disable Kannada auto‑translation until the system is improved. Source: Business Standard
Meta issued a public apology and said the issue was fixed, explaining it stemmed from a glitch in their AI‑powered translation tool.
However, Siddaramaiah warned users to view auto‑translated content with caution and urged tech platforms to take responsibility.
Why this matters for language professionals
- Trust and credibility: When machine translation misreports sensitive content, even small mistakes can erode public confidence.
- Regional complexity: Kannada and other regional languages have deep cultural differences that generic MT tools may mishandle.
- Control and oversight: Creators cannot disable auto‑translation in users’ feeds—raising concerns about transparency and accuracy.
Lessons & best practices
To avoid similar issues, translation teams and platforms should:
- Include native expert review for regional languages
- Label machine‑translated text clearly as “automated output”
- Give creators control to disable or edit translations
- Keep translation models updated and tested with real-world content
- Provide feedback channels for quick fixes when errors occur
Broader implications
This incident echoes past MT failures by major platforms—in Myanmar (2018), Palestine (2017), Malaysia (2024)—highlighting a global need for responsible language technology implementation.
For translation professionals, it’s a powerful reminder: machine translation is a useful tool, but it must be supported by human judgment and linguistic expertise.