THE WASHINGTON FREE BEACON 華盛頓自由燈塔
Lawmaker Probes Facebook Advertisement Ban of Anti-China News Site
議員對臉書禁止反華新聞做廣告事件展開調查
Rep. Banks concerned ban of Epoch Times is part of effort to appease communist China
Rep. Banks認為，對《大紀元》實施禁令是為了取悅中國共產黨


Adam Kredo - November 15, 2019
Adam Kredo 2019年11月15日
A lawmaker on the House Armed Services Committee is pressing Facebook to explain why it banned advertisements from a conservative-leaning newspaper that has investigated Chinese human rights abuses, in a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg exclusively obtained by the Washington Free Beacon.
在《華盛頓自由燈塔報》（Washington Free Beacon）獨家獲得的寫給臉書首席執行官扎克伯格的一封信裡，美國眾議院軍事委員會（House Armed Services Committee）一名議員向臉書施壓，要求它解釋一下，為什麼要禁止一家調查中共侵犯人權行為的保守派報紙做廣告。
Rep. Jim Banks (R., Ind.) has requested that Facebook explain its reasons for banning the Epoch Times from advertising on the social media site. The lawmaker suggests the paper was banned in part due to its critical coverage of the Chinese communist government's routine human rights abuse.
Rep. Jim Banks (共和黨-印第安納州)要求臉書就禁止《大紀元》在社交媒體上做廣告一事做出解釋。該議員表示，《大紀元》被禁的部分原因是它對中國共產黨政府的侵犯人權行為做了批判性報道。
The letter comes at a time when the proliferation of Chinese communist propaganda in the United States is under increased scrutiny. Banks and other lawmakers are investigating how the communist regime spreads propaganda in the United States while using its international economic leverage to censor content within the country.
這封信發出之際，中國共產黨在美國的宣傳活動正受到越來越多的關注。Banks和其他議員正在調查共產主義政權是如何在美國進行宣傳，同時利用其經濟方面的國際影響力在我國境內實施審查的。
Banks in his letter to Zuckerberg accuses Facebook of removing the Epoch Times ads in a bid to appease China's government, which has oppressive censorship rules that govern websites and their business interests in the country. The ban appears to be "another instance of Facebook suppressing an opinion it dislikes," according to the lawmaker.
Banks在給扎克伯格的信中指出，為了取悅中國政府，臉書刪除了《大紀元》的廣告。中國政府對網站及其在中國的商業利益有嚴格的審查制度。這項禁令似乎是“臉書壓制不喜歡觀點的另一例證，”議員稱。
"Congress will not sit by while Facebook hinders the Epoch Times‘ efforts to overcome Chinese persecution," Banks wrote. "By prohibiting the Epoch Times from advertising, you have indirectly aided the Chinese Communist Party in their worldwide soft power competition with the United States—using the same censorship tactics as [communist leader] Xi Jinping."
“在《大紀元》為反對中共迫害做出努力，卻遭到臉書阻止時，國會不會袖手旁觀。”Banks寫道。“在中共與美國全球軟實力競爭中，你以禁止《大紀元》登廣告的方式間接地幫助了中國共產黨——採用的是與習近平相同的審查制度。”
The Epoch Times was prohibited from advertising its anti-China content on July 18 for allegedly violating the company's ad policies and seeking to skirt its content review systems. The news outlet created secondary accounts to purchase advertising as a workaround to the ban, violating Facebook's guidelines. However, Banks says the workaround was only done in response to what he describes as a politically motivated initial ban on the Epoch Times‘s anti-China content.
7月18日，因為存在著反華內容，《大紀元》被禁止刊登廣告，禁令的理由是，《大紀元》涉嫌違反了公司的廣告政策，並試圖繞開臉書的內容審查系統。作為應對禁令的變通辦法，這家新聞機構創建了二級賬戶購買廣告，這違反了臉書的指導方針。然而，Banks表示，這一變通措施只是為了應對他所稱的針對《大紀元》反華內容的帶有政治動機的禁令的。
"The Epoch Times ‘tried to get around' Facebook's review systems by failing to identify themselves as the purchaser of their second round of advertisements," Banks writes. "This is a violation of Facebook guidelines, to be sure. But they ‘tried to get around your review systems' only after Facebook banned the Times‘ first account from advertising. Your spokesperson omitted any justification for the initial ban. Because your spokesperson failed to specify, I ask: which Facebook advertising policies did the Epoch Times violate before you closed their main account?"
“大紀元”試圖繞開“臉書”的審查系統，由於他們沒有把自己列為第二輪廣告的購買者，Banks寫道。“這確實違反了臉書的指導方針。但他們是在臉書禁止了《大紀元》第一個廣告賬戶後，才試圖繞你們的評價系統的。”你們的發言人沒有回答初次禁令的正當性。因為當我問：在你們關閉《大紀元》的主賬戶之前，它違反了哪些臉書廣告政策時，你們的發言人沒有做出具體說明。
The news outlet circulates some 1.6 million print copies weekly and, through its website and print edition, is distributed in 35 countries and in 17 different languages. Its primary coverage focuses on exposing Chinese human rights abuses and other anti-democratic actions by the ruling communist regime, making it one of the country's top journalistic enemies.
該新聞機構每週發行約160萬份印刷版，通過其網站和印刷版在35個國家以17種不同語言發行。其主要報道集中在揭露中共侵犯人權和共產主義政權的其它反民主行為，這使得它成為中共的頭號新聞敵人之一。
"Because its founder is an ex-Chinese citizen and almost all its staff are Chinese-speaking, the Epoch Times has been able to retain an incredibly large network of Chinese sources in mainland China," Banks wrote. "Its ties to China, coupled with its international circulation, put the newspaper in a special position. The Times is better suited than any Western newspaper to access information in China, and it's able to report on and distribute that information to interested parties without being censored—at least by the Chinese Communist Party."
“由於其創始人是前中國公民，並且幾乎所有員工都說中文，《大紀元》在中國大陸擁有龐大的華人資源，”Banks寫道。“它與中國的聯繫，加上它在全球的發行量，使這份報紙處於特殊的地位。《大紀元》比任何一家西方報紙更適合獲取中國的信息，它能夠報道，並將信息不受審查（至少不受中共審查）地傳播給相關方面 。”
"Regardless of your feelings on their editorial content, the Epoch Times is not a ‘fringe' news site," Banks wrote.
“不管你對他們編輯的內容有什麼看法，《大紀元》不是一個‘邊緣’新聞機構，” Banks寫道。
The lawmaker is pressuring Facebook to explain its ban and provide information to help Congress determine if the social media site is capitulating to censorship pressure from communist China.
該議員正在向臉書施壓，要求其對禁令做出解釋並提供信息，以幫助國會確定該社交媒體網站是否屈服於中共的審查壓力。
"Mr. Zuckerberg, I take the threat posed by China extremely seriously," Banks wrote. He added that the United States "cannot afford to have domestic companies aid the Chinese Communist Party's effort to censor dissenting viewpoints."
Banks寫道“扎克伯格先生，我非常嚴肅地看待中共帶來的威脅，” 他補充道，美國“不能允許國內公司幫助中共對不同觀點進行審查。”
Banks calls on Facebook to provide Congress with a reason for the initial ban.
Banks要求臉書向國會提供初次禁令的理由。
"I hope you will provide a concrete reason for your initial decision to ban the Epoch Times from advertising, and that this isn't another instance of Facebook suppressing an opinion it dislikes," the lawmaker wrote. "If an advertising policy violation did take place, I hope you weigh whether it justifies Facebook's decision to help the Chinese Communist Party. American companies should support America's values—not China's."
“我希望你能提供一個具體的理由，說明你最初決定禁止《大紀元》做廣告的原因，並說明這不是臉書壓制它不喜歡的觀點的又一個例子，” 該議員寫道：“假如確實違反了公司的廣告政策，我希望你權衡一下，臉書幫助中共的決定是否合理。美國公司應該支持的是美國價值觀，而不是中共國的。”
原文鏈接：
https://freebeacon.com/national-security/lawmaker-probes-facebook-advertisement-ban-of-anti-china-news-site/