美国国家公共电台 NPR--The attack on Brazil's Congress was stoked by social media

The attack on Brazil's Congress was stoked by social media

Transcript¹

The attack on Brazil's Congress was organized publicly online. Despite being on high alert, social media companies missed signs that their platforms were being used to plan violence.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

The images from Brasilia seem to mirror the January attacks on the U.S. Capitol. Our co-host, A Martínez, spoke² with NPR's Shannon Bond about another similarity.

SHANNON BOND, BYLINE³: Well, it seems that many of the protesters in Brasilia were motivated by calls to action online, specifically posts in Telegram and WhatsApp groups. And, you know, both of those are messaging apps that are really popular in Brazil. You know, in many cases, they were organizing basically in plain sight. There were offers of free transportation by bus, free food. Now, some of these posts did use coded language about a party to urge people to come to Brasilia. That was an - apparently⁴ an attempt to avoid being caught by the social networks, which have been on alert in Brazil. And then as some of these folks stormed the government buildings, this is all being livestreamed on YouTube. There were photos and videos being shared to Facebook, TikTok, Twitter, and many people were praising the rioters.

A MART?NEZ, BYLINE: So, yeah, that sounds very similar to the scene in Washington a couple of years ago. So, I mean, when you consider that, given what you said, social networks were on alert in Brazil, how was this able to happen?

BOND: Well, Bolsonaro and his supporters have been seeding the ground with these claims of election fraud even before he lost the presidential election back in October. And those claims were amplified⁵, you know, not just by Brazilian influencers on the right, but also American allies like Steve Bannon, the former Trump⁶ White House adviser⁷. On Sunday, he was cheering on the rioters as freedom fighters. And all of this spread widely online over many months, despite many of these platforms' claims they were monitoring the situation. I spoke with Jiore Craig. She studies elections and online platforms at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue. And she says it's a matter of priorities for these companies.

JIORE CRAIG: There is a lot that they are doing for English language markets that they just simply don't invest in in other markets.

BOND: And then, she says, when these companies do respond to problems, it's typically because of external pressure - you know, bad PR. And fundamentally, that does not address the ways their products can be used to amplify⁸ these kinds of anti-democratic movements. Another thing I'll say is, at the same time, Brazil does have pretty aggressive regulations about online speech. The government has the power to compel platforms to take down content, to ban accounts. But that didn't stop this from happening either.

MART?NEZ: And then this comes at a time when Facebook's parent company, Meta, is about to announce whether it's going to restore former President Donald Trump's account that it banned after January 6. I mean, could the events that happened in Brazil affect that decision?

BOND: Well, the short answer is we don't know yet. Trump's two-year ban was up on Saturday, just the day before this all unfolded in Brazil. Meta says in making this decision, it's considering the level of risk. It's basically trying to decide, is it safe to let Trump back on Facebook and Instagram? Now, clearly the situation here in the U.S. is different now than it was in 2021. You know, but part of that is that, you know, the election denial movement that Trump, you know, really kind of has come to symbolize⁹ has hardened. It's become part of mainstream¹⁰ American politics. And then when you look around the world, you have far-right movements, including in Brazil, which are cross-pollinating. They're encouraging each other. They're taking inspiration from one another. And so the question is, is that broader question of public safety risks something Meta is considering?

MART?NEZ: That's NPR's Shannon Bond. Shannon, thanks.

BOND: Thanks so much.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

5 amplified   

放大，扩大( amplify的过去式和过去分词 )； 增强； 详述

参考例句：

• He amplified on his remarks with drawings and figures. 他用图表详细地解释了他的话。
• He amplified the whole course of the incident. 他详述了事件的全过程。

6 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

7 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

8 amplify   

vt.放大，增强；详述，详加解说

参考例句：

• The new manager wants to amplify the company.新经理想要扩大公司。
• Please amplify your remarks by giving us some examples.请举例详述你的话。

9 symbolize   

vt.作为...的象征，用符号代表

参考例句：

• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。
• Dolphins symbolize the breath of life.海豚象征着生命的气息。

10 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。