{"id":210959,"date":"2020-01-20T23:27:56","date_gmt":"2020-01-20T15:27:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.geek.com\/featured\/-1816589\/"},"modified":"2020-01-20T23:27:56","modified_gmt":"2020-01-20T15:27:56","slug":"facebook-accidentally-translates-chinese-leaders-name-to-mr-shithole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/itteacheritfreelance.hk\/test\/wordpress\/2020\/01\/20\/facebook-accidentally-translates-chinese-leaders-name-to-mr-shithole\/","title":{"rendered":"Facebook Accidentally Translates Chinese Leader\u2019s Name to \u2018Mr. Shithole\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Chinese President Xi Jinping (left) shakes hands with Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi (right) at the Presidential Palace in Myanmar (via Nyein Chan Naing\/Reuters)<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

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.<\/span><\/p>\n

The social network apologized for any offense it caused.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to Reuters<\/a>, 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.<\/span><\/p>\n

A statement about the meeting\u2014published on Suu Kyi’s official Facebook page\u2014when 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.”<\/span><\/p>\n

There’s no word on how long the issue lasted. Apparently Google’s translation function did not make the same error.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Burmese-to-English translations of posts regarding Xi Jinping’s visit to Myanmar (via Reuters)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

“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.<\/span><\/p>\n

“We sincerely apologize for the offense this has caused,” the firm added.<\/span><\/p>\n

Facebook’s Burmese database didn’t include Xi Jinping\u2014China’s highest-ranking official since 2012. So, instead, it guessed at the translation, and hilarity ensued.<\/span><\/p>\n

Translation tests of similar words starting with “xi” and “shi” in Burmese also produced “shithole,” Facebook added.<\/span><\/p>\n

While the social media service is blocked on mainland China<\/a> (though not in the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao), the nation continues advertising elsewhere on the platform.<\/span><\/p>\n

Which means the world’s most populous country is also Facebook’s second-largest revenue stream (after the US).<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, Zuckerberg & Co. can’t seem to straight out their Burmese translations.<\/span><\/p>\n

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.”<\/span><\/p>\n

More on Geek.com:<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n