中英对照：扼杀WeChat并非美国解除微信之痛的手段之一

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（大中报/096.ca 特稿 ）随着中美紧张局势升级，有关美国将禁止使用微信的消息和传言激增，在微信上掀起恐慌。据美国权威机构称，作为社交媒体和信息传递平台的微信已沦为中国政府在北美展开强大的宣传攻势，监视海外华人的有力工具。但是同时，微信已成为海外华人必不可少的通讯平台，因此微信禁令将损害占美国移民群体中相当比例之华裔人群的整体利益。华盛顿政府不应将微信赶出美国，而应探索其他途径来对抗中国展开的微信攻势，包括迫使身居美国的腾讯公司遵守国际法律。

 

Speculations about Washington to ban WeChat in the US surge as US and China tensions escalate, sparking a wave of panic among overseas Chinese.  According to US authority, the social media app has helped Beijing disseminate propaganda messages and assisted China's surveillance operations. However, banning WeChat in the US -- every day's mobile app for overseas Chinese will harm the interest of a demographic that made up a large swath of the US immigrant population. Instead of kicking WeChat out of the US soil, Washington should explore other avenues to fight WeChat censorship – including forcing Tencent America to abide by American laws.

 

作为有效的信息传递和社交媒体平台，微信已经深深扎根于华人的生活之中。微信在北美拥有超过数千万名用户，是唯一的可为华裔海外侨民以及与中国有生意往来外国商业人士提供商业和个人联系的社交媒体。让微信从海外华人的手机上消失犹如强行夺走包括数百万加国华裔在内的北美华裔们必不可少的生活伴侣，让他们倍感心焦，痛苦。

 

As a messaging app and a social media platform, WeChat has deeply ingrained in Chinese lives. It has over tens of millions of user base in North America. It is the only social media app that provides commercial and personal connections for the Chinese overseas Diaspora and foreign business community with a footprint in China. Yanking the app from their mobile devices would devastate the North American Chinese, including millions of Chinese Canadians, making them feel that they have lost an indispensable life companion.

 

其实，禁止社交媒体的运行可是专制政权的专利，是他们扼杀舆论自由，稳固政权统治的快速，便利措施。网上快速传播的大量信息给专制政权带来威胁，因此出于对政治风险的担心，中国政府对西方世界的信息进行监视，控制，删除直至全面封锁，并无视于这些社交媒体平台给中国老百姓带来的社会和经济效益。结果，从Facebook到Twitter到Instagram等多个西方著名社交媒体平台在中国彻底遭禁。

 

Banning social media platforms are abusive and convenient tactics embraced by authoritarian regimes. The free online information has imposed an insurmountable threat to authoritarian rule. Fearing for social media's political danger, Beijing has resorted to restricting, filtering, monitoring, and prohibiting the information flow from the Western countries altogether while disregarding the social and economic benefits brought by social media.  As a result, multiple popular social media platforms – from Facebook to Twitter to Instagram are unable to see the light of day in China.

 

但是言论自由和舆论自由是民主社会的基石。在民主国家美国，彻底掐断某一网络信息来源前所未有，是其走向专制统治的先兆。其实，华盛顿完全可以采取更民主和有效的措施，而不是通过掐死其喉管来对抗中国的“微信霸权”。

 

However, freedom of speech and expression is a pillar of democracy. In a democratic country of the US, forcing a digital information provider out of US soil is a dangerous slippery slope from democracy to authoritarian rule.  Instead of slapping a gag order, Washington can find better solutions to Beijing's WeChat abuse.

 

的确，为了获得全球的仰慕和效忠，中国政府一直把微信当作利器，以大量虚假和宣传鼓动信息充斥微信平台。但华盛顿也可以通过强化民主之声，并鼓励，支持不断壮大的独立华语传媒来与其抗衡。不错，中国的大笔资金投入和玩弄资助商报道，编造新闻等种种极端伎俩等都硕果累累，但在人才济济，财大气粗的美国，其新闻人才和资源难道会比中国逊色？！。

 

Indeed, Beijing has exploited WeChat to gain allegiance and loyalty, flushing the platform with disinformation and propaganda campaigns. But Washington can combat Beijing's operations by strengthening the democratic voice and supporting the independent Chinese language media that is growing in scales and scopes. While Beijing's massive infusion of money and aggressive tactics -- from sponsored coverage to a flood of misinformation -- has borne fruit, the US's financial power and journalist resources do not pale in comparison.

 

毫无疑问，中国政府的信息屏蔽机制在微信平台开足了马力以打压一切民主之声和灭绝异见势力。但将服务器设在美国的美国腾讯分公司有义务和责任遵守现代民主社会的法律法规，执行美国赋予公民的自由言论的宪章和权利。腾讯的信息控制和屏蔽行径为其在美国遭到法律诉讼和违反人权起诉提供了强有力的法律依据，也为其遭到美国政府的处罚和罚款提供了事实基础。

 

Beijing has also turned their censorship machine into the full-throttle on WeChat, silencing any dissident voices, and censoring any information critical of Beijing and pro-democracy. However, by setting its server in US soil, Tencent America must follow the rules in modern society, abiding by US constitutions of free speech and respecting human rights to freedom of expression. Tencent’s action of censorship provides legal ground for lawsuits and human rights claims and regulatory fines and penalties.

 

华盛顿可通过许多渠道解除其微信之痛，但将其彻底扼杀却不是其中之一。

 

Washington has multiple means at its disposal to solve its burning issues of WeChat. But banning the platform is not one of them.