BENGALURU: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday said that faulty auto-translation of Kannada content on tech giant Meta’s platforms is distorting facts and misleading users.
“This is especially dangerous when it comes to official communications,” the CM said, cautioning citizens to be aware that translations shown are often inaccurate. “Such negligence by tech giants can harm public understanding and trust,” Siddaramaiah said, adding that social media platforms must act responsibly.
The CM said his Media Advisor, KV Prabhakar, has formally written to Meta, urging immediate correction. Prabhakar, who wrote to Meta on behalf of the CM, raised serious concerns about the auto translation of Kannada on its platforms, particularly Facebook and Instagram. “We have noted with concern that the auto-translation from Kannada to English is frequently inaccurate and in some cases grossly misleading.
This poses a significant risk, especially when public communication, official statements, or important messages from the CM and the government are incorrectly translated. It can lead to misinterpretation among users, many of whom may not realise that what they are reading is an automated and faulty translation rather than the original message,” the CM’s media advisor stated in his email to Meta.
Given the sensitivity of public communication, especially from constitutional functionaries like the CM, such misinterpretation due to flawed translation mechanism is unacceptable, he stated.
He urged Meta to temporarily suspend the auto-translation feature for Kannada content, until the translation accuracy is improved. Prabhakar also suggested that the tech giant collaborate with qualified Kannada language experts and linguistic professionals to enhance the quality and contextual accuracy of translation between Kannada and English. Sources said the CM’s office decided to take up the issue with Meta, after a glaring mistake in a recent post from the CMO.