VOA慢速英语2021 Facebook取消了澳大利亚的新闻禁令（在线收听）

Facebook has removed a ban that prevented Australians from reading or sharing news stories on the social media service.

脸谱网取消了禁止澳大利亚公民在社交媒体上阅读或分享新闻的禁令。

The action came after Facebook reached a deal with the Australian government to resolve a dispute over proposed legislation. The legislation seeks to make big technology companies pay news organizations for use of their content.

此前，脸谱网与澳大利亚政府达成协议，以解决有关拟议立法的争议。这项立法旨在使大型科技公司向新闻机构支付使用其内容的费用。

The dispute led Facebook last week to block Australians from reading or sharing news stories. But the dispute was settled after talks between Australia's Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg.

这一争议导致脸谱网上周禁止澳大利亚公民阅读或分享新闻。但澳大利亚财长乔什·弗莱登伯格和脸谱网首席执行官马克·扎克伯格举行会谈后，这一争端得以解决。

"Facebook has refriended Australia, and Australian news will be restored," Frydenberg told reporters in Canberra after the agreement was reached.

协议达成后，弗莱登伯格在在堪培拉对记者表示，“脸谱网已与澳大利亚重新建立了友谊，澳大利亚的新闻也将恢复。”

Frydenberg added that Australia had been a "proxy battle for the world" as other nations seek negotiations with technology companies on a range of issues involving news and content.

弗莱登伯格补充表示，澳大利亚一直是“世界代理战的中心”，因为其他国家正在寻求与科技公司就一系列涉及新闻和内容的问题进行谈判。

The Australian legislation was designed to limit the negotiating power of Facebook and Google in talks with Australian news providers. For example, it aims to prevent technology companies from making take-it-or-leave-it payment offers to news businesses for their content.

澳大利亚的立法旨在限制脸谱网和谷歌与澳大利亚新闻提供商谈判时的谈判能力。例如，其目的是阻止科技公司对新闻企业的内容进行“要么接受要么放弃”的支付方式。

Frydenberg and Facebook confirmed that the two sides agreed to several amendments to the proposed legislation. One change would give technology companies one month's warning before they are officially covered under the law. That would give those involved more time to reach agreements before they are forced to enter enforceable arbitration agreements.

弗莱登伯格和脸谱网证实，双方同意对拟议立法进行几项修正。其一，在科技公司受制于新法律之前，将享有一个月的警示时间。这将使有关各方有更多时间达成协议，之后再被迫签订可执行的仲裁协议。

Facebook said it was pleased with the amendments, which need to be added to the legislation currently before the parliament.

脸谱网表示，其对修正条款感到满意，这些修正条款要添加到已提交议会的立法中。

William Easton heads Facebook's Australian and New Zealand area offices. He said the company is satisfied that the changes and guarantees under the deal meet its main concerns about the law.

威廉·伊斯顿是脸谱网澳大利亚和新西兰地区办事处的负责人。他表示，协议的修正和担保与公司对法律的主要担忧相符，这令公司感到满意。

"As a result of these changes, we can now work to further our investment in public interest journalism," he said.

他说表示，“由于这些变化，我们现在可以进一步加大对公益新闻业的投资。”

Facebook's vice president for news partnerships, Campbell Brown, said the deal also permits the company to choose which publishers it will support, including small and local ones.

脸谱网负责新闻合作的副总裁坎贝尔·布朗表示，这项协议还允许该公司选择支持哪些出版商，包括小型和本地出版商。

Some experts see the deal as a major victory in international efforts to make Facebook and Google pay for the news stories they use. And, governments around the world have closely watched the case.

一些专家认为，对让脸谱网和谷歌为其使用的新闻报道付费的国际行动来说，这项协议是重大胜利。世界各国政府都在密切关注此事。

But other experts see it differently. "Facebook has scored a big win," said independent British technology expert Richard Windsor, adding the compromises reached almost "guarantee that it will be business as usual from here on."

但其他专家却有不同的看法。独立的英国技术专家理查德·温莎表示，脸谱网已经取得了巨大的成功。他补充说，双方达成的妥协几乎“可以保证，从现在起，脸谱网将一如既往。”

Google had threatened to remove its search abilities from Australia because of the proposed legislation. But the search engine decided not to do so after reaching compromises with several companies. Google says it currently has deals with more than 50 Australian titles and more than 500 publishers worldwide.

因为这项拟议立法，谷歌曾威胁要从澳大利亚撤出其搜索。但在与几家公司达成妥协后，这家搜索引擎决定不采取这种做法。谷歌表示，其目前已与50多家澳大利亚公司和全球500多家出版商达成了协议。

Words in This Story

content – n. the information presented in different forms or media or on the internet

restore – v. to make something exist again

proxy – n. a person or organization acting in behalf of another

arbitration – n. the process of solving an argument between two parties by helping them agree to an acceptable solution

title – n. the name of a book, film, newspaper, etc.