Iphone's Siri describes Israel as a 'Zionist occupation state'

Asked on Saturday who the president of Israel was, Siri - available to Mac, iOS, Apple Watch and Apple TV users - replied 'the President of the Zionist occupation state'

MENA

1 min read

The New Arab & agencies

20 January, 2020

Apple have not yet commented on the matter [Getty]

Israeli social media erupted in outrage this weekend after videos of Apple's Siri were shared showing the built-in virtual assistant describing Israel as a "Zionist occupation state", when asked who the president of that country was.

According to a Business Insider report, Apple users searching the name "Reuven Rivlin" - the president of Israel - were met with the blunt description.

The president is Israel serves largely in a ceremonial role with the prime minister - currently Benjamin Netanyahu - leading the country's government.

Apple explained that the response from the built-in virtual assistant was mostly likely due to "vandalism" of Rivlin's Wikipedia page, the source of Siri's "knowledge", which can be edited by users.

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Israel-based Channel 12 reported that on Saturday an anonymous user named "The Arab Man" hacked the Wikipedia page and made the edit to the president's biography.

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Wikipedia appeared to have fixed the problem when Siri was asked the same question on Sunday, when the response was reverted to "Rueven Rivlin is the President of Israel".

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Apple has not yet responded for comment.

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