IT happens: Facebook sorry for Jinping’s name gaffe, cites technical glitch

Facebook apologised on Saturday for a distasteful mistranslation of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s name from Burmese language posts during his much-touted visit to Myanmar. His two-day visit to Myanmar’s capital Naypyidaw was the first made by a Chinese leader in almost two decades. But the historic moment was dimmed by the automatic translation feature on Myanmar’s Facebook page — which rendered Xi Jinping’s name from Burmese into English as “Mr Shithole”.

The error most notably appeared on the official Facebook page of Myanmar’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

“Mr Shithole, President of China arrives at 4 PM,” said a translated announcement posted earlier Saturday.