It does seem a bit unfair - ok sure, anyone familiar with C-family syntax should be able to work through it and spot errors. But anyone already familiar with Python would be able to do so a lot faster.
I think the idea is good, but to be equitable it should be given in a language the person claims to be already familiar with. Or alternatively, only give it to people in a language they are not familiar with.
If the goal was to objectively evaluate ability in a broad population, I 100% agree. However, if my dev shop primarily uses Python then selecting for people familiar with Python is pretty reasonable.
Thankfully there is a giant corpus of terrible code out there for any language. Especially that code written by the most evil terrible coders of all time: past-self :D
I think the idea is good, but to be equitable it should be given in a language the person claims to be already familiar with. Or alternatively, only give it to people in a language they are not familiar with.