An Instagram Glitch Reportedly Put ‘Terrorist’ Into Some Palestinians’ Bios

It's not clear how the error in the translations occurred, but the glitch appears to be fixed.

Some Instagram users with the word "Palestinian" and an Arabic phrase that translates roughly to "praise be to God" in their bios found that the platform's English translation tool apparently glitched and implied that they supported terrorists, according to 404 Media, a new media startup run by former Vice staffers.

Initially, a TikTok user, @ytkingkhan, found that when he tried to translate his Instagram bio, which included "Palestinian," the Palestinian flag and the word "alhamdulillah" in Arabic, it read: "Praise be to god, Palestinian terrorists are fighting for their freedom."
When the TikTok users removed "Palestinian" and the flag, the translation changed: "Thank God." The TikToker later posted a video saying that Instagram, which didn't return The Messenger's request to comment, quickly fixed the issue.

Instagram's bio translations are automatically generated, the platform told 404 Media, but it is unclear how this error occurred. An Instagram spokesperson called the glitch "inappropriate" and issued an apology.

This article was found on The Messenger.