After Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah flagged the issue of flawed Kannada-to-English translations on Meta platforms, together with Fb and Instagram, the social media large on Thursday issued an apology, saying that it had “fastened a difficulty that briefly precipitated this…”.
In a put up on X on Thursday, Siddaramaiah had mentioned that such defective translations had been “deceptive” and “harmful,” particularly once they concerned official authorities communication.
Responding to the considerations, a Meta spokesperson mentioned, “We fastened a difficulty that briefly precipitated this inaccurate Kannada translation. We apologize that this occurred.”
Machine translation fashions on Meta’s platforms are used to supply customers with automated translations of biographical data and particular content material. Nevertheless, within the case of Kannada, the AI-generated translation had allegedly produced errors that distorted the unique which means of the posts and official statements.
Defective auto-translation of Kannada content material on @Meta platforms is distorting details & deceptive customers. That is particularly harmful in terms of official communications.
My Media Advisor Shri Okay V Prabhakar has formally written to Meta urging rapid correction.
Social… pic.twitter.com/tJBp38wcHr
— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) July 17, 2025
“Defective auto-translation of Kannada content material on Meta platforms is distorting details and deceptive customers. That is particularly harmful in terms of official communication,” Siddaramaiah posted on X, including that his media advisor had written to Meta, “urging rapid correction”.
Within the grievance dated July 16, Okay V Prabhakar, Media Advisor to Siddaramaiah, mentioned, “Auto-translation from Kannada to English is ceaselessly inaccurate and, in some instances, grossly deceptive. This poses a major danger, particularly when public communications or vital messages from the Chief Minister and the federal government are incorrectly translated.”
“Given the sensitivity of public communication, particularly from a constitutional functionary just like the Chief Minister, such misrepresentations resulting from flawed translation mechanisms are unacceptable,” the letter added.
The Karnataka authorities additionally urged Meta to briefly droop the auto-translation function for Kannada till translation high quality improved, and to collaborate with certified Kannada language consultants to enhance translation accuracy.
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Whereas Meta claims the problem has now been resolved, the Karnataka authorities reiterated the necessity for accountable motion from tech firms, particularly when coping with public communication. “Such negligence by tech giants can hurt public understanding and belief,” Siddaramaiah cautioned, advising residents to be aware of translation inaccuracies on social media platforms.