Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah flags Meta over inaccurate Kannada translations, demands immediate fix
Faulty translations on Facebook and Instagram prompt concerns from Karnataka’s top office about potential misinformation.
- Jul 18, 2025,
- Updated Jul 18, 2025 9:47 AM IST
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has raised concerns over what he described as “faulty auto-translation” of official Kannada content on Meta-owned platforms, specifically Facebook and Instagram. The CM said that the errors risk distorting facts and misleading users, particularly when they involve government communication.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Siddaramaiah warned, “Faulty auto-translation of Kannada content on Meta Platforms is distorting facts and misleading users. This is especially dangerous when it comes to official communications.”
The Chief Minister’s media adviser, KV Prabhakar, has formally written to Meta requesting urgent intervention. The letter called attention to consistent translation inaccuracies and noted that, in some instances, the output was “grossly misleading.” It added, “This poses a significant risk, especially when public communications, official statements or important messages from the Chief Minister and the Government of Karnataka are incorrectly translated.”
Prabhakar also warned Meta that many citizens may not realise they are reading an automated translation and could misinterpret important announcements.
The government urged Meta to temporarily disable the auto-translation function for Kannada content until the system’s reliability improves. It also recommended that Meta collaborate with Kannada language experts to enhance the contextual accuracy of translations.
Responding to the criticism, Meta acknowledged the issue and said it had been resolved. “We fixed an issue that briefly caused this inaccurate Kannada translation. We apologise that this happened,” the company said in a statement.
Meta clarified that the translation problem stemmed from an error in its AI-powered machine translation model. “Machine translations are shown to users in various instances on Facebook and Instagram, including public biographical info and specific pieces of content. In this case, our model provided a machine translation error which caused inaccurate Kannada translations in Facebook.”
The company added, “We implemented a fix to ensure greater accuracy. We have provided machine translation on Facebook and Instagram for years and we are continuously gathering feedback in order to improve the technology and help the machine translation model learn to generate more accurate information.”
Some users on social media backed the Chief Minister’s move, with one suggesting the government issue its own official English translations to avoid future confusion. Meta, headquartered in the US, operates multiple platforms in India, including WhatsApp, Threads and Messenger, alongside Facebook and Instagram.
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Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has raised concerns over what he described as “faulty auto-translation” of official Kannada content on Meta-owned platforms, specifically Facebook and Instagram. The CM said that the errors risk distorting facts and misleading users, particularly when they involve government communication.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Siddaramaiah warned, “Faulty auto-translation of Kannada content on Meta Platforms is distorting facts and misleading users. This is especially dangerous when it comes to official communications.”
The Chief Minister’s media adviser, KV Prabhakar, has formally written to Meta requesting urgent intervention. The letter called attention to consistent translation inaccuracies and noted that, in some instances, the output was “grossly misleading.” It added, “This poses a significant risk, especially when public communications, official statements or important messages from the Chief Minister and the Government of Karnataka are incorrectly translated.”
Prabhakar also warned Meta that many citizens may not realise they are reading an automated translation and could misinterpret important announcements.
The government urged Meta to temporarily disable the auto-translation function for Kannada content until the system’s reliability improves. It also recommended that Meta collaborate with Kannada language experts to enhance the contextual accuracy of translations.
Responding to the criticism, Meta acknowledged the issue and said it had been resolved. “We fixed an issue that briefly caused this inaccurate Kannada translation. We apologise that this happened,” the company said in a statement.
Meta clarified that the translation problem stemmed from an error in its AI-powered machine translation model. “Machine translations are shown to users in various instances on Facebook and Instagram, including public biographical info and specific pieces of content. In this case, our model provided a machine translation error which caused inaccurate Kannada translations in Facebook.”
The company added, “We implemented a fix to ensure greater accuracy. We have provided machine translation on Facebook and Instagram for years and we are continuously gathering feedback in order to improve the technology and help the machine translation model learn to generate more accurate information.”
Some users on social media backed the Chief Minister’s move, with one suggesting the government issue its own official English translations to avoid future confusion. Meta, headquartered in the US, operates multiple platforms in India, including WhatsApp, Threads and Messenger, alongside Facebook and Instagram.
For Unparalleled coverage of India's Businesses and Economy – Subscribe to Business Today Magazine