经济学人24:谨慎处理儿童问题

 　　Business.

　　商业。

　　Facebook and the under-13s.

　　脸谱网和13岁以下的儿童。

　　Kid gloves.

　　谨慎处理儿童问题。

　　Small children are a big headache for the social network.

　　社交网络中的小鬼是个大问题。

　　ONE American in three aged¹ 65 or older uses social networks, says a new report by the Pew Research Centre, a think-tank. But it is the small surfers, not the silver ones, who are currently making waves. Facebook is examining ways to allow children under the age of 13 to use its service, with some form of parental² supervision³. If this happens-and Facebook stresses that it has not yet decided⁴ whether to go ahead-it would be a venture into uncharted territory.

　　美国智库皮尤研究中心在新发布的一份报告中指出，美国65岁及其以上的老年人中有三分之一使用社交网络。但如今制造状况的却是年纪轻轻的冲浪者，而非满头白发的人。脸谱网将核准允许13岁以下的儿童在某种父母监管形式下使用其服务的方式。如果脸谱网的确将其付诸行动——脸谱网强调它并未决定是否采取进一步的措施——它将在一片未知领域中展开冒险。

　　Critics howl that young children lack the maturity⁵ to cope with social networks. They also worry that Facebook will find devious⁶ ways to make money from naive⁷ children or, more likely, their parents. "We would be giving the keys to the chicken coop to the fox," says Doug Fodeman of ChildrenOnline.org, a pressure group.

　　评论者们怒斥道，儿童不够成熟，社交网络上的种种他们应付不来。他们也担心脸谱网会从天真无知的孩子们，或者更有可能是其父母身上赚取不义之财。任职于一家压力集团——儿童网络服务组织——的Doug Fodeman说："我们这是在送羊入虎口。"

　　There is also the thorny⁸ question of how Facebook could comply with the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) in America, which was designed to protect children under 13 as they use the internet. The law stipulates⁹ that online services with youngsters among their customers must obtain the consent of the children's parents before collecting data from them. Parents also need to be able to review their children's data and have these deleted if they so wish. The onerous¹⁰ nature of these and other COPPA provisions explains why social networks have tended to shun¹¹ the young. Facebook insists that you have to be 13 to use its service.

　　另一个棘手的问题便是脸谱网会如何遵守《儿童网络隐私权法案》（COPPA），该法案旨在对13岁以下使用因特网的儿童进行保护。法案规定，拥有儿童客户的网络服务须征得其父母同意才能获取他们的资料。父母也同样需要有权审查孩子的资料，并且如果父母觉得有必要，可以删掉孩子的资料。COPPA的上述规定及其它条款繁琐复杂，这就使得社交网络都刻意避开年轻客户。脸谱网则强调，其用户必须年满13岁。

　　The snag is that children fib about their age. A study by Consumer Reports found that 5.6m children under 13 were using Facebook in America alone. Another survey of American parents found that adults often knew that their children were less than 13 when they joined Facebook. In many cases, the parents helped them to set up their accounts.

　　不过有个小问题：孩子们会谎报年龄。消费者报告在研究中发现，单在美国就有560万13岁以下的儿童玩脸谱网。另一份针对美国父母的调查表明，父母通常都知道其孩子注册脸谱网时还未满13岁。而且在很多情况下，父母们都会帮助他们开通账户。

　　Regulators have noticed. Facebook's current musings may reflect the fear that the firm will run into trouble if it does nothing. It already has slightly more robust¹² privacy settings for children between the ages of 13 and 17. But it would need a far tighter regime for younger children, says Sarah Downey of Abine, an online consumer-privacy company.

　　网络监管部门已注意到了这点。脸谱网当前的考量是它担心如果无任何作为，公司便会麻烦缠身。它已为13至17岁的用户建立了更为健全的隐私设置。不过，来自网络客户隐私保护公司亿邦公司的Sarah Downey说，脸谱网也许需要为13岁以下的儿童设立更为严格的监管机制。

　　In spite of its plummeting¹³ share price, Facebook has oodles of cash from its recent stockmarket flotation. So it could easily hire the extra staff needed to support parents and their youngsters, as well as to ensure compliance¹⁴ with COPPA. Mark Zuckerberg, the social network's boss, has said he believes children's education should start early. Now he has a chance to prove that he means it.

　　尽管脸谱网股价暴跌，但近期的上市使得它有大笔现金入帐。因此，雇佣额外所需员工为父母及其孩子提供服务，并且使这些员工遵守COPPA,对脸谱网而言也许并非难事。该社交网站的老板Mark Zuckerberg说，对儿童的教育应尽早开始。如今便有一个机会摆在他面前，让他证明自己不是说说而已。

1 aged   

adj.年老的，陈年的

参考例句：

• He had put on weight and aged a little.他胖了，也老点了。
• He is aged,but his memory is still good.他已年老，然而记忆力还好。

2 parental   

adj.父母的；父的；母的

参考例句：

• He encourages parental involvement in the running of school.他鼓励学生家长参与学校的管理。
• Children always revolt against parental disciplines.孩子们总是反抗父母的管束。

3 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 maturity   

n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期

参考例句：

• These plants ought to reach maturity after five years.这些植物五年后就该长成了。
• This is the period at which the body attains maturity.这是身体发育成熟的时期。

6 devious   

adj.不坦率的，狡猾的；迂回的，曲折的

参考例句：

• Susan is a devious person and we can't depend on her.苏姗是个狡猾的人，我们不能依赖她。
• He is a man who achieves success by devious means.他这个人通过不正当手段获取成功。

7 naive   

adj.幼稚的，轻信的；天真的

参考例句：

• It's naive of you to believe he'll do what he says.相信他会言行一致，你未免太单纯了。
• Don't be naive.The matter is not so simple.你别傻乎乎的。事情没有那么简单。

8 thorny   

adj.多刺的，棘手的

参考例句：

• The young captain is pondering over a thorny problem.年轻的上尉正在思考一个棘手的问题。
• The boys argued over the thorny points in the lesson.孩子们辩论功课中的难点。

9 stipulates   

n.（尤指在协议或建议中）规定，约定，讲明（条件等）( stipulate的名词复数 )；规定，明确要求v.（尤指在协议或建议中）规定，约定，讲明（条件等）( stipulate的第三人称单数 )；规定，明确要求

参考例句：

• The trade contract stipulates for the settlement of balances in RMB. 贸易合同规定余额以人民币结算。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The contract stipulates for the use of seasoned timber. 合同上订明用干透的木料。 来自辞典例句

10 onerous   

adj.繁重的

参考例句：

• My household duties were not particularly onerous.我的家务活并不繁重。
• This obligation sometimes proves onerous.这一义务有时被证明是艰巨的。

11 shun   

vt.避开，回避，避免

参考例句：

• Materialists face truth,whereas idealists shun it.唯物主义者面向真理，唯心主义者则逃避真理。
• This extremist organization has shunned conventional politics.这个极端主义组织有意避开了传统政治。

12 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

13 plummeting   

v.垂直落下，骤然跌落( plummet的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Prices are rising, falling, going up, going down, shooting up, plummeting, etc. 物价在上涨、下跌、上升、下落、猛然上涨、骤然下跌等。 来自辞典例句
• The enemy plane went plummeting into the sea. 敌机直直掉进海里。 来自辞典例句

14 compliance   

n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从

参考例句：

• I was surprised by his compliance with these terms.我对他竟然依从了这些条件而感到吃惊。
• She gave up the idea in compliance with his desire.她顺从他的愿望而放弃自己的主意。