原作者：
来源Facebook and Twitter Opt Not to Sign a Free Speech Pact – NYTimescom
译者coder9527
Facebook and Twitter Opt Not to Sign a Free Speech Pact – NYTimescom
Facebook和Twitter拒绝签署言论自由公约——纽约时报
By VERNE G. KOPYTOFF
作者： VERNE G. KOPYTOFF
Published: March 6, 2011
2011年3月6日发表
SAN FRANCISCO — When Google, Yahoo and Microsoft signed a code of conduct intended to protect online free speech and privacy in restrictive countries, the debate over censorship by China was raging, and Internet companies operating there were under fire for putting profit ahead of principle.
旧金山——当Google，雅虎还有微软签署了一项针对限制性国家，旨在保护网上言论自由以及隐私的规范时，围绕着中国的审查制度，争论正在如火如荼地进行着。在中国运营的互联网公司被猛烈地抨击在利益面前毫无原则性。
Mary F. Calvert for The New York Times
图片由Mary F. Calvert提供给纽约时报
Susan Morgan of the Global Network Initiative, a group that includes Google, Yahoo and Microsoft but no other companies.
全球网络倡议组织的Susan Morgan，该组织由Google，雅虎和微软组成，不包括其他公司。
It seemed the perfect rallying moment for a core cause, and the companies hoped that other technology firms would follow their lead.
这似乎是一个完美的核心事业凝聚的时刻，这些公司希望其他的科技企业都将跟随他们。
But three years later, the effort known as the Global Network Initiative has failed to attract any corporate members beyond the original three, limiting its impact and raising questions about its potential as a viable force for change.
但是三年之后，这个联盟即全球网络倡议组织的努力却失败了。它在原有三个成员之外未能吸引到任何新的合作伙伴，这也就限制了它的影响，同时质疑其潜在的是一个可行的变革的力量。
At the same time, the recent Middle East uprisings have highlighted the crucial role technology can play in the world’s most closed societies, which leaders of the initiative say makes their efforts even more important.
在同一时间，最近的中东起义突出了在世界上最封闭的国家，技术可以发挥关键作用，该倡议的领导人说他们的努力甚至更为重要。
“Recent events really show that the issues of freedom of expression and privacy are relevant to companies across the board in the technology sector,” said Susan Morgan, executive director of the initiative. “Things really seem to be accelerating.”
“最近的事件真正表明，表达自由和隐私权的问题与技术部门的所有公司有关，”倡议的执行董事Susan Morgan说，“一切似乎正在加速发展。”
But the global initiative is not. All of the participating companies are American. Also, Facebook and Twitter are notably absent despite their large audience and wide use by activists, in the Middle East and elsewhere.
但是全球倡议不是。所有的参与公司都是美国的。此外，Facebook和Twitter的缺席也很显眼，尽管在中东及其他地区他们拥有大量的观众并广泛应用于积极分子当中。
Bennett Freeman, senior vice president of the mutual fund company Calvert Investments and a G.N.I. board member, pointed out that the three current members were among the biggest Internet companies, but acknowledged that “we are going to have to add some new companies soon to be truly influential.”
Bennett Freeman，Calvert投资共同基金公司的高级副总裁兼G.N.I董事会成员，指出当前的三个成员都是最大的互联网公司之一，但他也承认“我们也应该尽快让新成员加入以变得真正有影响力。”
The biggest test yet for the initiative comes later this year, when member companies are judged on whether they have adequate policies in place to address privacy and free speech issues. Independent auditors will issue a report after examining whether the companies narrowly interpret government demands for user information and whether they store users’ data in countries where free speech is protected, for example.
倡议至今最大的努力是在这一年晚些的时候，当时其成员公司正被评判是否采取了充分的策略来处理隐私及言论自由。独立审计师将在对这些公司检查之后发布一份报告，检查将包括，比如公司是否会对用户狭义的解释政府要求，公司是否会在保护言论自由的国家存储用户数据。
Next year, the companies are to undergo a more thorough review of whether they lived up to code of conduct’s principles.
第二年，这些公司将经受更为彻底的检查，以确定他们是否遵循了行为准则的要求。
The initiative was created in 2008 after human rights groups and politicians condemned the top Internet companies for complying with China’s restrictive laws rather than jeopardizing their business interests by challenging them.
倡议成立于2008年人权组织和政客谴责最大的互联网公司遵守了中国的审查制度而不是牺牲商业利益去挑战它这一事件之后。
Yahoo had turned over data that led to the imprisonment of several Chinese activists. Microsoft had shut down a blog by a Chinese journalist who worked for The New York Times. Meanwhile, Google had introduced a censored search engine in China (although the company has since shut down that site).
雅虎上交的数据导致了一些中国的积极分子被关押。微软关闭了一位为纽约时报工作的中国记者的博客。同时，Google在中国推出了一个过滤过结果的搜索引擎（尽管Google后来关闭了该网站）。
The initiative is modeled on previous voluntary efforts aimed at eradicating sweatshops in the apparel industry and stopping corruption in the oil, natural gas and mining industries. As with those efforts at self-regulation, this one came at a time when Internet companies were seeking to polish their image and potentially ward off legislation.
该倡议是参照之前旨在根除服装行业血汗工厂以及停止石油、天然气和采矿工业的腐败现象的志愿服务。正如善于自我调节的努力，该倡议正是在互联网公司寻求提高自身形象和尽可能规避立法的时候出现。
The code of conduct says that companies must try “to avoid or minimize the impact of government restrictions on freedom of expression” and protect user privacy when demands by government “compromise privacy in a manner inconsistent with internationally recognized laws and standards.”
行为准则中说公司必须试着“避免或最小化政府对表达自由的管制”以及当政府要求时保护用户隐私，“危害隐私的方式不符合国际公认的法律和标准”。
In practice, however, the code offers flexibility. Companies that go along with a country’s censorship requirements can remain in compliance as long as they disclose it, as Microsoft does with its censored search results in China.
当然在实践中，准则提供了一定的灵活性。公司可以遵循一个国家的审查制度，不过需要表明清楚这一点，就像微软对其在中国提供过滤过的搜索结果的处理一样。
A number of participants, which also include human rights groups, academics and firms specializing in socially responsible investing, agree that the initiative started slowly. Much of the focus since its founding has been on getting organized and hiring.
很多参与者，也包括人权组织、学术界和专门从事社会责任投资的公司，同意倡议逐步开始。其成立以来的大部分焦点都是关于如何组织起来以及雇佣。
Originally, the membership was supposed to include the entire spectrum of software, hardware and telecommunications firms along with Internet companies. The idea was that a bigger roster would mean greater influence and credibility.
最开始，成员范围计划包括软件、硬件、通讯企业以及互联网公司在内的整个范围。当时的想法是，越大的成员名单也就意味着越大的影响力和公信力。
But recruiting efforts have been fruitless. Some companies have cited the auditing process as being too onerous, according to Global Network Initiative participants who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they did not want to discourage companies from joining in the future. Other companies do not see any financial benefit or think they can do it alone.
但是招募的努力无果而终。据全球网络倡议的成员透露，一些公司被列举出审计程序过于繁重，不过他要求不透露这些公司的名字，因为不想组织公司未来加入。其他一些公司觉得没有经济利益或者说觉得可以自己单独来做。
Andrew Noyes, a spokesman for Facebook, declined to address why Facebook had not joined. But he said that his company took seriously the issue of user trust and was in regular contact with governments and human rights groups.
Facebook的发言人Andrew Noyes拒绝公布为何Facebook没有加入。但是他表示Facebook非常重视用户的信任并且与各国政府和人权组织保持定期联系。
“As Facebook grows, we’ll continue to expand our outreach and participation, but it’s important to remember that our global operations are still small, with offices in only a handful of countries,” Mr. Noyes said.
“随着Facebook的发展，我们会继续扩大我们的推广和参与，但需要记住的是，我们的全球业务仍然还比较小，只在少数几个国家设有办事处，”Noyes说。
Twitter declined to comment.
Twitter拒绝发表评论。
Where the initiative has been most effective so far is in creating a forum for companies to easily get advice and share ideas. For instance, as the initiative’s participants were creating the code of conduct, human rights groups contacted Google after it removed videos in 2007 from YouTube showing police abuse in Egypt because of guidelines prohibiting violence. Google ultimately decided to restore the videos and adjust its policy to allow such clips.
倡议迄今为止最有效果的就是为企业创建了一个论坛，使得企业很容易获得咨询和交流意见。例如，作为该准则的参与制定者，2007年Google从YouTube上以禁止暴力为由删除了埃及滥用警力的视频，人权组织随后联系了Google，最终使得Google决定恢复这些视频并且调整了其政策允许类似的片段。
Some human rights groups said the initiative’s code of conduct was weaker than they would have liked. Getting companies to sign on would have been impossible otherwise, they acknowledged, describing the code’s final version as the best that could be hoped for at the time.
一些人权组织表示倡议的行为准则低于他们期望的标准。不过他们也承认，如果不是这样，想让公司同意签字将是不可能的，准则的最终版本也表明了当时情况下可以得到的最好的情况。
Even with the code of conduct to help guide them, companies will inevitably come across issues that have no easy answers, said Rebecca MacKinnon, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation who specializes in online privacy and is a participant in the initiative.
即使有准则帮助指导他们的行为，公司仍然不可避免的遇到一些棘手的问题，新美国基金会的高级研究员Rebecca Mackinnon说，她主要研究在线隐私，同时也是倡议的参与者。
“Most of these issues aren’t black and white,” Ms. MacKinnon said. “The idea is to help them do the right thing rather than play ‘gotcha’ after they mess up.”
“大部分这样问题的答案不是非黑即白，”Mackinnon说，“我们应该帮助他们做正确的事情，而不是在他们陷入困境之后对他们来‘哈，我抓到你了‘。 ”
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