VOA慢速英语2019 政府利用社交媒体影响大选

A rights group reports that governments and individuals have sought to influence elections online in 26 of 30 national elections it studied.

一个人权组织报告称，在其研究的30个国家选举中，有26个国家的政府和个人试图利用网络影响选举。

Freedom House released the report about online influence on Monday – one day before elections in many parts of the United States. Some of the group's financing comes from the U.S. government.

周一，“自由之家”赶在美国多数地区选举的前一日发布了这份有关网络影响选举的报告。该组织的部分资金来自美国政府。

The new report warns that internet-based election interference has become an important method for those seeking to attack democracy. It found that disinformation and propaganda were the most popular tools used to influence elections.

这份新报告警告称，基于互联网的大选干扰已经成为那些试图攻击民主者的重要手段。报告还发现，虚假信息和宣传是影响选举的最常用招数。

Supporters raise their posters to cheer their senatorial candidate, former national police chief Rogelio 

Supporters raise their posters to cheer their senatorial candidate, former national police chief Rogelio "Bato" Dela Rosa during the last campaign rally by the administration for the midterm elections in suburban¹ Pasig city east of Manila, Philippines, Ma

Freedom House studied how domestic governments have tried to influence their citizens. It also examined partisan² actors who use online networks to spread misleading ideas. It said that such individuals often work with popular media personalities³ and business leaders.

“自由之家”研究了国内政府如何设法影响公民。它还调查了利用网络传播误导性思想的党派人士。报告称，这些人经常与受欢迎的媒体人士和商界领袖共事。

"Many governments are finding that on social media, propaganda works better than censorship," said Mike Abramowitz, the president of Freedom House. He added that "authoritarians⁵ and populists around the globe" are using human nature and computer programs to harm free and fair elections.

“自由之家”主席迈克·阿布拉莫维茨(Mike Abramowitz)表示，“许多政府发现，在社交媒体方面，宣传比审查更加高效”。他补充说，“全球的威权主义者和民粹主义者”正在利用人性和电脑程序来危害自由公正的选举。

Some of those seeking to influence elections had developed methods to defeat efforts by technology companies to fight false or misleading information, the report said.

报告称，一些试图影响选举的人已经研究出方法，挫败科技公司打击虚假或误导性信息的努力。

For example, it noted⁶ that in the Philippines, candidates paid people on social media to support their campaigns on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

例如，它指出，在菲律宾，候选人在社交媒体上花钱雇人支持他们在Facebook、Twitter和Instagram上的竞选活动。

The report noted that online disinformation was widely used during several political events in the United States, such as the 2018 elections. Another example was the U.S. Senate hearings for Supreme⁷ Court nominee⁸ Brett Kavanaugh.

报告指出，在美国的几次政治活动中，如2018年的选举，网络虚假信息被广泛使用。另一个案例是最高法院大法官提名人布雷特·卡瓦诺（Brett Kavanaugh）的美国参议院听证会。

Freedom House noted a rise in the number of governments using bots and false accounts to shape online opinions and hurt opponents. Such behavior was noted in 38 out of 65 countries that the report discussed.

“自由之家”指出，越来越多的政府利用程序和虚假账户来影响网络舆论，并中伤反对者。在报告讨论的65个国家中，有38个国家被指存在这种行为。

Social media was also being increasingly used to watch citizens. The report said at least 40 countries have set up high-level social media monitoring programs.

社交媒体也越来越多地被用来监视大众。报告称，至少有40个国家建立了高水平的社交媒体监控项目。

Allie Funk is one of the writers of the report, called "Freedom on the Net 2019." She said the report had two main themes. One is efforts by governments to influence their own elections. The other is their efforts to "monitor their citizens."

艾丽·芬克（Allie Funk）是这份名为《2019年网络自由》报告的作者之一。她表示，报告有两大主题。其一是政府试图影响本国选举。另一个是他们试图“监视大众”。

But Funk added that government efforts to block the opposition⁹ sometimes have unexpected results. She said in Russia, online efforts to limit opposition candidates led to protesters' use of social media to organize.

但是芬克补充说，政府阻止反对派的努力有时会产生意想不到的结果。她说，在俄罗斯，网络上限制反对派候选人，结果却导致抗议者利用社交媒体组织活动。

Words in This Story

domestic – adj. of or coming from within a country

partisan – adj. strongly supporting one leader or party over another

network – n. an interconnected group of people or organizations

censorship – n. a method of removing material from books, movies and other forms of communications thought to be wrong or bad

authoritarian⁴ – adj. expecting or requiring people to obey rules and laws and to not have personal freedom

bots – n. computer programs designed to act like real people

account – n. a record or statement of an event or experience

theme – n. an idea or image that appears again and again

monitor – v. to watch or observe someone or something

1 suburban   

adj.城郊的，在郊区的

参考例句：

• Suburban shopping centers were springing up all over America. 效区的商业中心在美国如雨后春笋般地兴起。
• There's a lot of good things about suburban living.郊区生活是有许多优点。

2 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

3 personalities   

n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
• Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。

4 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

5 authoritarians   

权力主义者，专制者，独裁者( authoritarian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It requires no complicated theories of a preference for authoritarians or personal seduction. 并不需要所谓偏爱独裁者或似魅力等复杂理论。
• The authors advocated immediate intervention by industry chiefs to stop authoritarians from rising up the ranks. 研究报告的撰写者们呼吁行业领导立即采取措施阻止有此种苗头的单位领导获得晋升机会。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

8 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

9 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。