Facebook apologizes for mis-translating Chinese president's name as "Mr. Shithole" (not the Onion)

Last edited Sat Jan 25, 2020, 02:52 PM - Edit history (1)

WTF?


https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-facebook/facebook-apologizes-after-vulgar-translation-of-chinese-leaders-name-idUSKBN1ZH0IB

"YANGON (Reuters) - Facebook Inc (FB.O) on Saturday blamed a technical error for Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s name appearing as “Mr Shithole” in posts on its platform when translated into English from Burmese, apologizing for any offense caused.

The error came to light on the second day of a visit by the president to the Southeast Asian country, where Xi and state counselor Aung San Suu Kyi signed dozens of agreements covering massive Beijing-backed infrastructure plans.

A statement about the visit published on Suu Kyi’s official Facebook page was littered with references to “Mr Shithole” when translated to English, while a headline in local news journal the Irrawaddy appeared as “Dinner honors president shithole”.

.....

The Facebook system did not have President Xi Jinping’s name in its Burmese database and guessed at the translation, the company said. Translation tests of similar words that start with “xi” and “shi” in Burmese also produced “shithole”, it added."....(more)