TLDR: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has urged Meta to suspend its AI-powered Kannada auto-translation feature after a significant error declared him ‘dead’ in an English translation of a condolence message. The incident, which occurred on Facebook and Instagram, prompted a formal complaint from the CM’s office, citing concerns over distorted facts and misleading official communications. Meta has since apologized, attributing the error to its AI-based machine translation model.
Bengaluru, India – Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has called for an immediate halt to Meta’s AI-driven Kannada auto-translation services following a major gaffe that erroneously declared him deceased. The incident unfolded on July 18, 2025, when a condolence message posted by the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) on Facebook and Instagram, originally in Kannada, was mistranslated into English, stating, ‘Chief Minister Siddaramaiah passed away yesterday multilingual star, senior actress B. Took darshan of Sarojadevi’s earthly body and paid his last respects.’ The original post was mourning the death of veteran actress B Sarojadevi.
Understandably enraged by the inaccurate translation, which referred to him as ‘late,’ Chief Minister Siddaramaiah took to X (formerly Twitter) to express his strong disapproval. He stated, ‘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.’ He further cautioned citizens about the frequent inaccuracies in translations displayed on social media platforms, emphasizing that ‘Such negligence by tech giants can harm public understanding and trust.’
K.V. Prabhakar, the Chief Minister’s media adviser, formally communicated with Meta, urging immediate correction and intervention. The letter highlighted concerns that ‘the auto-translation from Kannada to English is frequently inaccurate and, in some cases, grossly misleading,’ posing a significant risk to public communications and official statements. The CMO also requested Meta to temporarily suspend the Kannada auto-translation feature until its accuracy is substantially improved and suggested collaboration with Kannada language experts to enhance contextual accuracy.
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In response to the widespread criticism and formal complaint, a Meta spokesperson issued an apology, stating, ‘We fixed an issue that briefly caused this inaccurate Kannada translation. We apologize that this happened.’ The company acknowledged that the translation error resulted from a mistake in its AI-based machine translation model, which it claims has now been rectified. Despite the fix, the incident has underscored the critical need for greater precision in AI-powered translation tools, particularly when handling sensitive or official communications.
