VERY LOST IN TRANSLATION

‘Mr. Shithole’: Facebook Apologizes for Translation of Chinese Leader’s Name

A post on the Myanmar state counselor’s official Facebook page was littered with references to “Mr. Sh*thole” when translated to English.

Facebook issued an apology Saturday after a translation error left Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s name as “Mr. Shithole” in posts on its platform when translated into English from Burmese. The social-media company vowed to figure out how the error occurred, but said that the problem had since been fixed. On the second day of Jinping’s visit to Myanmar, a post on Myanmar state counselor Aung San Suu Kyi’s official Facebook page was littered with references to “Mr. Shithole” when translated to English. Reuters reports that a headline in local newspaper the Irrawaddy appeared as “Dinner honors president shithole.” “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 apologize for the offense this has caused.”