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Does a TikTok video showing an iPhone replacing the word "racist" with "Trump" prove that Siri is anti-Trump? No, that's not true: Apple said it's fixing a speech recognition bug that sometimes briefly replaces words starting with "R", not just "racist," with other words that begin with an "R" consonant at the beginning of the word, not just "Trump." Users can set an iPhone to replace any word with another using the "text replacement" function. Go to "Settings," then "General," then "Keyboard," then "Text replacement."
The claim appeared in a TikTok video posted on February 25, 2025 (archived here), with the following description:
My dad sent me this video this morning. He told me his friend noticed that when he used speech to text and said "racist," it briefly changed to "Trump" before changing back. Seems like subliminal messaging to me. I don't have an iPhone and my phone doesn't do it. #iphone #Trump #apple #elonmusk #fyp @Anna Matson @Aquarius_Waive @athena @David Gokhshtein @Doxielvr @Hello America @Jason Pargin, author @Jeffery Mead @Jeff Mead @Joe "Pags" Pagliarulo @J.D. Vance @Link Lauren @Tulsi Gabbard @user80861822781
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Tue Feb 25 20:00:00 2025 UTC)
Apple did not immediately reply to Lead Stories' request for comment, but did respond to FOX News. FOX reported the Apple spokesperson said:
"We are aware of an issue with the speech recognition model that powers Dictation, and we are rolling out a fix as soon as possible."
The FOX article said Apple explained the speech recognition models used for the dictation function "may temporarily display words with some phonetic overlap, before landing on the correct word." It is a specific issue with "r" consonants, it said.
Lead Stories demonstrated the process for setting an Apple iPhone's "text replacement" function to swap out words in this TikTok video:
@alan_leadstories I tested the claim iPhone Siri is anti-Trump because Siri changes "racist" to "Trump." This video shows how each user can customize their phone to replace any word with another through the "text replacement" setting.
♬ original sound user4421080898365
The Apple iPhone User Guide has a section on the "text replacement" feature (archived here) and how to activate it:
While typing in a text field, touch and hold the Emoji button or the Switch Keyboard key.
Tap Keyboard Settings, then tap Text Replacement.
Tap the Add button at the top right.
Type a phrase in the Phrase field and the text shortcut you want to use for it in the Shortcut field.
Updates:
2025-02-25T22:05:31Z 2025-02-25T22:05:31Z Updates headline and details reflecting Apple statement acknowledging the bug with 'r' consonants.
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