Microsoft apologises after Bing translates ‘Daesh’ into ‘Saudi Arabia’

Calls for search engine to be boycotted

Microsoft was forced to apologise on Tuesday after its Bing translation service suggested the Arabic name for Islamic State 'Daesh' meant 'Saudi Arabia' in English.

Saudis were left fuming after Microsoft's Bing search engine translated Daesh – the Arabic acronym for Islamic State – as Saudi Arabia. Many called for a boycott of the search engine. While online translation tools are not always accurate and reliable, this error identifying a country as a terrorist group that commits gruesome atrocities was bound to infuriate its citizens.



Microsoft’s vice president for Saudi Arabia, Dr Mamdouh Najjar, said: “As an employee of [Microsoft], I apologise personally to the great Saudi people and this country, dear to all our hearts, for this unintentional mistake.”

Some took to social media to express their outrage.

“The Saudi people in one voice: Bing has been boycotted,” said one tweet.

https://twitter.com/walah9999999/status/768927972619354112

#مايكروسوفت_تسيء_للسعودية
الشعب السعودي بصوت واحد:
تمت المقاطعة #bing 🎬@bing@bingads@Microsoft_Saudi @microsoft pic.twitter.com/IbFZERETAb

— محمد الشقاء (@Alshega) August 26, 2016

This is not the first time a tech giant has made such a blunder. A few weeks ago, Google showed major parts of Pakistan as Indian territory. The Indian version of the service shows Azad Kashmir as part of Indian-occupied Kashmir. It also places parts of China’s Hotan County under Indian control.



Google also caused outrage when its Google maps service erased Palestine off the world map. Thousands signed a petition urging Google to reinstate Palestine on the maps.

This article originally appeared on RT.