Facebook apologises for rude translation of Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s name
- Embarrassing translation mistake caused Xi Jinping’s name to appear as ‘Mr S***hole” in posts when translated from Burmese into English
Facebook Inc said on Saturday it was working to find out how Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s name appeared as “Mr S***hole” in posts on its platform when translated into English from Burmese, apologising for any offence caused and saying the problem had been fixed.
The error came to light on the second day of a visit by the president to the Southeast Asian country, where Xi and state counsellor 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 S***hole” when translated to English, while a headline in local news journal the Irrawaddy appeared as “Dinner honors president s***hole”.
It was not clear how long the issue had lasted but Google’s translation function did not show the same error.
“We have fixed an issue regarding Burmese to English translations on Facebook and are working to identify the cause to ensure that it doesn’t happen again,” Facebook said in a statement. “This issue is not a reflection of the way our products should work and we sincerely apologise for the offence this has caused.”