Lost in translation – Google is not deleting the Macedonian language

Original title: Google has deleted the Macedonian language, it provides the Bulgarian as an option (PHOTO)

The text claims that Google has deleted the Macedonian language, and implying that it has been optioned with the Bulgarian language. The disinformation is based on so-called Gmail users and the anonymous author’s comments. Both blame Google and Gmail, using the moment to claim that the Macedonian language within the Gmail service was deleted even before the signing of the Prespa Agreement. As in many manipulative texts, facts and figures are placed in wrong context and misused.

Link to the original article here.

Link to the archived original article here.

Source: expres.mk

The text does not offer statements by relevant sources and the offered pictures cannot be treated as a proof towards the claims that Google has deleted the Macedonian language. These claims are based on anonymous sources, presented in the article as “Gmail users”, which makes the article irrelevant.
Google is a private company that provides many different services, assuming that they follow the market logic as any other company. One of the services that it provides is Gmail. The established practice of Gmail to offer its services in different languages was misused with the aim to incite nationalistic euphoria that there is a conspiracy against Macedonia. The truth is that there are approx. 7,000 languages worldwide, and Gmail operates under 74 languages. Macedonian was never included, as well as languages from the region, such as Albanian, Montenegrin and Bosnian language.
However, there are other services that Google provides in Macedonian language that function perfectly, like Google search engine, which has extension google.mk and translate.google.com.

The whole text is confusing and manipulative, even for the F2N2 team which had dilemma what to debunk. In addition, it seems that the co-called Gmail users have “revealed” Gmail only in August 2018, therefore the author is lost in translation.