title: "utf-8' codec can't decode byte 0xdb in position 1: invalid continuation byte" - aws lambda
body: <p>I am trying to decode a JSON formatted mqtt message that is sent to an aws lamda function</p>
  <pre><code>def lambda_handler(event, context):
     eventText = event['data']
     eventText = base64.b64decode(eventText)
     s2 = eventText.decode(&quot;UTF-8&quot;)
  </code></pre>
  <p>It seems that no matter the input message I receive this error:
  &quot;'utf-8' codec can't decode byte 0xa9 in position 1: invalid start byte&quot;</p>
  <p>For example the above error was generated with:</p>
  <pre><code>{
  &quot;data&quot;: &quot;Random Text==&quot;
  }
  </code></pre>
  <p>The value of event['data'] is &quot;Random Text==&quot; and the value of base64.b64decode(eventText) is &quot;b'E\xa9\xdd\xa2d\xde\xc6'&quot;</p>
  <p>I am not familiar with these encoding protocols any help is appreciated.</p>