Facebook removes Burmese translation feature after Reuters report


A cellphone user looks at a Facebook page at a shop in Latha street, Yangon, Myanmar August 8, 2018. REUTERS/Ann Wang/File Photo

LONDON: Facebook has removed a feature that allowed users to translate Burmese posts and comments after a Reuters report showed the tool was producing bizarre results.

A Reuters investigation published on Aug 15 documented how Facebook was failing in its efforts to combat vitriolic Burmese language posts about Myanmar's Rohingya Muslims. Some 700,000 Rohingya have fled Myanmar over the past year amid a military crackdown and ethnic violence. In late August, United Nations investigators said Facebook had been “a useful instrument for those seeking to spread hate" against the Muslim minority group.

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