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

The text translator’s blunder put down to crowdsourced suggestions after anger from Saudi officials and social media called for countrywide boycott

Saudi Arabia captured by Nasa’s Aqua satellite Photograph: NASA / HANDOUT/EPA

Microsoft has been forced to apologise after its Bing translation service suggested that the Arabic name for Islamic State “Daesh” meant “Saudi Arabia” in English. The blunder was spotted by Saudi social media users, who called for a boycott of all Microsoft products, causing the mistranslation to go viral, and leading to a public outcry.