2020年经济学人 Facebook和专制统治者(2)

Size is part of the problem. Facebook has 2.7bn users, many of whom write in foreign languages. Their posts are vetted¹ for hate speech and incitement². But the firm’s 15,000 content moderators struggle to cope. Most do not know Arabic and its dialects. So the firm relies on automated³ filters, which make mistakes. They screen flagged words, but cannot detect cultural nuance⁴ or satire⁵. Facebook rarely explains why it deletes content. “Despite a huge number of users in the global south, they are largely excluded from the conversation,” says Wafa Ben-Hassine, a Tunisian- American human-rights lawyer.

尺度是问题的一部分。Facebook拥有27亿用户，其中许多人用外语写作。他们的发布内容要经过审查是否为仇恨言论和煽动性言论。但该公司的15000名内容审核员却难以应对。大多数人不知道阿拉伯语及其方言。因此，该公司依靠自动过滤器，但会出错。他们屏蔽了标记的词语，但无法察觉文化的细微差别或讽刺。Facebook很少解释删除内容的原因。突尼斯裔美国人权律师瓦法·本·哈辛表示：“尽管南半球有大量用户，但他们基本上被排除在对话之外。”。

Facebook is bound by American law, which counts some key players in the Middle East as terrorists. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps⁶, Hizbullah, Hamas and a raft of other armed Islamist groups are banned. Occasionally American media outlets⁷ give members of these groups airtime, but Facebook has a rigid⁸ interpretation⁹ of the law against aiding and abetting¹⁰ terrorists. More troubling is how it bans people sympathetic to these groups—or removes content that simply refers to them. Even Hizbullah’s opponents spell the militia’s name with a space between each letter to prevent Facebook deleting their posts.

Facebook受到美国法律的约束，美国法律将中东地区的一些主要参与者视为恐怖分子。伊朗伊斯兰革命卫队、真主党、哈马斯和其他一些伊斯兰武装组织被禁止入境。美国媒体偶尔会给这些组织的成员提供广播时间，但Facebook对禁止援助和教唆恐怖分子的法律有严格的解释。更麻烦的是，它会禁止人们发表同情这些团体的言论，或者删除涉及这些团体的内容。甚至真主党的反对者也会在每个字母之间加上空格，以防止Facebook删除他们的帖子。

1 vetted   

v.审查（某人过去的记录、资格等）( vet的过去式和过去分词 )；调查；检查；诊疗

参考例句：

• The recruits were thoroughly vetted before they were allowed into the secret service. 情报机关招募的新成员要经过严格的审查。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All staff are vetted for links with extremist groups before being employed. 所有职员录用前均须审查是否与极端分子团体有关。 来自辞典例句

2 incitement   

激励； 刺激； 煽动； 激励物

参考例句：

• incitement to racial hatred 种族仇恨的挑起
• Interest is an incitement to study. 兴趣刺激学习。

3 automated   

a.自动化的

参考例句：

• The entire manufacturing process has been automated. 整个生产过程已自动化。
• Automated Highway System (AHS) is recently regarded as one subsystem of Intelligent Transport System (ITS). 近年来自动公路系统(Automated Highway System,AHS)，作为智能运输系统的子系统之一越来越受到重视。

4 nuance   

n.(意义、意见、颜色)细微差别

参考例句：

• These users will easily learn each nuance of the applications they use.这些用户会很快了解他们所使用程序的每一细微差别。
• I wish I hadn't become so conscious of every little nuance.我希望我不要变得这样去思索一切琐碎之事。

5 satire   

n.讽刺，讽刺文学，讽刺作品

参考例句：

• The movie is a clever satire on the advertising industry.那部影片是关于广告业的一部巧妙的讽刺作品。
• Satire is often a form of protest against injustice.讽刺往往是一种对不公正的抗议形式。

6 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

7 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 rigid   

adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的

参考例句：

• She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
• The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严，几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。

9 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

10 abetting   

v.教唆（犯罪）( abet的现在分词 )；煽动；怂恿；支持

参考例句：

• On Earth, unknowingly abetting a criminal doesn't merit this kind of punishment. 在地球上，不知不觉地帮助罪犯并不构成这种惩罚。 来自电影对白
• "By aiding and abetting murder, the Taliban regime is committing murder." 援助和唆使谋杀的塔利班政权与杀人犯同罪。 来自互联网