Mar 29, 2022 11:30:00

Google tells Russian translators 'Don't use the word'war'to invade Ukraine'

A translator who was translating sentences for the Russian market on Google instructed Google in early March 2022 that 'Russia's invasion of Ukraine should be described as an' emergency 'rather than a' war '.' It is reported that the email was received. According to the news media The Intercept, this Google instruction is based on a policy that complies with the Russian censorship law enacted immediately after the invasion of Ukraine.

Google Ordered Translators to Replace References to Ukraine “War”

https://theintercept.com/2022/03/28/google-russia-ukraine-war-censorship/

The censorship law signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 4, 2022 sets severe criminal penalties, including up to 15 years in prison for misinformation about Russian troops. Since the subject of this criminal punishment is interpreted to include calling the invasion of Ukraine 'war' and 'invasion', Russia's invasion of Ukraine is a 'special military operation' and '(Ukraine's)' in Russia. It is expressed as 'emergency situation'.

At the same time that Western countries decided to impose economic sanctions on Russia, many companies issued statements of support for Ukraine and condemnation of Russia, deciding not to provide products and services to Russia. Google has also expressed its support for Ukraine and criticism of Russia, and has introduced a policy to prevent the spread of propaganda by the Russian government. In addition, we have suspended advertising sales in Russia, Google Cloud registration and payment functions in Russia.

Google translates services such as Google Maps, Gmail, and AdWords, as well as Google's policy pages, into languages around the world. Most translations are done automatically by AI, but if there is a possibility that the expression will be inconsistent with automatic translation such as community rules and support pages, it seems that a human translator will check it. .. However, The Intercept says that the instructions Google sent to the translators this time are based on the Russian side.

The following is the Japanese page of 'Update Policy on Delicate Events', which says 'War in Ukraine'.

On the other hand, in the

Russian version , it is said to be 'чрезвычайные обстоятельства на Украине (Ukrainian anomaly)'.

Also, on the

Japanese version of 'Restricted Goods and Services' in 'Display & Video 360 Help', 'War in Ukraine' and 'Current situation (War in Ukraine)' are displayed. I am.

However, on the

Russian version of the page , the phrase was changed to 'с чрезвычайными обстоятельствами на Украине (Ukraine's exceptional situation)'. The Intercept describes the translation instructions as 'an example of Google surrendering to Russia's censorship demands.'

A Google spokeswoman told The Intercept, 'Although we have suspended most of Google's advertising and commercial activities in Russia, we continue to focus on the safety of local employees. Communication within Russia is now restricted, as it has been. '