Facebook claims a “technical” error caused Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s name to appear as “Mr. Shithole” in Burmese-to-English translations on its platform.
The social network apologized for any offense it caused.
According to Reuters, Facebook’s faux pas was spotted on the second day of a visit by the president to Myanmar, where he and state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi signed agreements covering Beijing-backed infrastructure plans.
A statement about the meeting—published on Suu Kyi’s official Facebook page—when translated to English, was littered with references to “Mr. Shithole.” Similarly, a headline shared from Burmese news site Irrawaddy read (in English): “Dinner Honors President Shithole.”
There’s no word on how long the issue lasted. Apparently Google’s translation function did not make the same error.
Burmese-to-English translations of posts regarding Xi Jinping’s visit to Myanmar (via Reuters)
“We fixed a technical issue that caused incorrect translations from Burmese to English on Facebook,” a company spokesperson said in a statement emailed to Geek. “We have taken steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
“We sincerely apologize for the offense this has caused,” the firm added.
Facebook’s Burmese database didn’t include Xi Jinping—China’s highest-ranking official since 2012. So, instead, it guessed at the translation, and hilarity ensued.
Translation tests of similar words starting with “xi” and “shi” in Burmese also produced “shithole,” Facebook added.
While the social media service is blocked on mainland China (though not in the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao), the nation continues advertising elsewhere on the platform.
Which means the world’s most populous country is also Facebook’s second-largest revenue stream (after the US).
Still, Zuckerberg & Co. can’t seem to straight out their Burmese translations.
The function was temporarily removed in 2018, after a report proved the tool was flawed, translating a post advocating the killing of Muslims to “I shouldn’t have a rainbow in Myanmar.”
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