Meta just made a move that’s going to change how millions of people experience content on Instagram and Facebook. The company announced that its Reels translation feature now works with Hindi and Portuguese, joining the English and Spanish options that launched a few months back. This means creators speaking these languages can now reach audiences they could never connect with before, and viewers can enjoy content from all over the world without language getting in the way.
Think about scrolling through Reels and finding something hilarious from a creator in Brazil, but you don’t speak Portuguese. Or coming across an inspiring video from India that’s in Hindi when you only know English. Before this update, you’d probably just scroll past because you couldn’t understand what was being said. Now, Meta’s doing something pretty clever to solve that problem, and it’s opening doors for creators and viewers in ways we haven’t really seen before.
The translation feature first showed up back in August when Meta rolled it out for English and Spanish. That was already a big deal because it connected huge audiences in the United States, Latin America, and Spain. But adding Hindi and Portuguese? That’s bringing in some seriously massive markets. India has one of the largest populations on earth, and Brazil is the biggest country in South America. Portuguese is also spoken across several other countries including Portugal and parts of Africa. When you add up all the people who speak these languages, you’re talking about hundreds of millions of potential new viewers for creators.
What makes this interesting is how it actually works. This isn’t just slapping subtitles on a video and calling it a day. Meta’s system actually recreates the creator’s voice in another language. It listens to how they sound, picks up on their tone and style, and then generates a new audio track that keeps that same feel but in a different language. So when someone in Mumbai makes a Reel in Hindi and it gets translated to Portuguese, viewers in São Paulo hear it in a voice that still sounds like the original creator, just speaking their language.
There’s even a lip sync option that some creators are using. This means the translated audio actually matches up with the movements of the creator’s mouth. It’s one of those things that sounds small but makes a huge difference in how natural the video feels. Without it, you’d notice that disconnect between what someone’s saying and how their lips are moving. With it, the whole experience feels more real and less like you’re watching something that’s been dubbed over.
For creators, getting access to this feature is pretty straightforward if you meet the requirements. On Facebook, you need at least a thousand followers. On Instagram, any public account can use it as long as Meta AI is available in your country. When you’re about to post a Reel, there’s an option that says “Translate your voice with Meta AI” and you just turn that on. Then you pick which languages you want your content translated into, and Meta handles the rest. The whole thing is free, which is important because it means smaller creators aren’t locked out just because they can’t afford expensive translation services.
The timing of adding Hindi and Portuguese feels deliberate. India and Brazil are absolutely massive markets for Reels. Millions of people in these countries are creating and watching short videos every single day. By making it easier for creators in these places to reach a global audience.
From the viewer’s side, Meta made sure people have control over what they see. Every translated Reel gets labelled clearly so you know you’re watching translated content. If you’d rather watch everything in its original language, you can turn translations off completely. There’s also an option to just skip translation on specific videos if you want. These controls matter because not everyone wants their feed automatically translated, and giving people choices about their experience is always better than forcing something on them.
What’s really happening here goes beyond just adding a couple more languages to a feature. Meta is building something bigger. They’re working toward a version of social media where language doesn’t determine whose content you get to enjoy. Right now, if you only speak English, you’re mostly seeing content from other English speakers. The same goes for any language. But if translations keep getting better and more languages get added, that could change completely. You might discover your new favourite creator is someone speaking a language you’ve never learned, and it won’t matter because you’ll understand them anyway.
Meta has already hinted that more languages are coming soon. They didn’t say which ones or when, but the pattern is clear. Start with the biggest languages that connect the most people, prove the feature works, then keep expanding. Each new language opens up more connections between creators and audiences who would have never found each other otherwise.
The whole thing is also free for creators to use, as Professional translation services cost real money, and dubbing videos is even more expensive. By making this available at no cost, Meta is levelling the playing field. A creator just starting out has access to the same translation tools as someone with millions of followers.
Hindi and Portuguese are both two steps in what looks like a longer journey. As Meta keeps adding languages and improving how natural the translations sound, we’re moving closer to a world where the best content rises to the top regardless of what language it was originally created in.
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