What are the potential pitfalls of using str_replace to fix character encoding issues in PHP?

When dealing with character encoding issues in PHP, using `str_replace` to fix them may not be the most reliable solution. This is because `str_replace` operates on a byte-by-byte basis and may not correctly handle multibyte characters, leading to potential data corruption or unexpected results. It is recommended to use functions specifically designed for handling character encoding, such as `mb_convert_encoding` or `iconv`.

// Example of using mb_convert_encoding to fix character encoding issues
$original_string = "México";
$fixed_string = mb_convert_encoding($original_string, "UTF-8", "ISO-8859-1");

echo $fixed_string; // Output: México