当地时间3月13日,美国国会众议院以352比65的压倒性态势通过法案,要求中国科技公司字节跳动(ByteDance)在6个月内剥离其短视频应用程序TikTok的在美业务,否则TikTok将面临禁令。TikTok在美国拥有广泛的影响力,据估计,它在美国有1.7亿用户。美国立法者们认为,中国政府可以利用TikTok来传播信息和获取美国用户的敏感数据。此项法案标志着TikTok在美国正遭遇最具实质意义的立法威胁。
一
时政热词
1. divest (divestiture) 剥夺、剥离
图片来源:Observer
2. bipartisan 两党的
因为(Tiktok)使用和存储数据的方式涉及国家安全问题,两党立法将要求字节跳动出售该应用程序,否则该应用将面临禁令。
(英文摘自2024.03.06 NPR 网站)
The legislation, approved 352 to 65, is a sweeping bipartisan rebuke of the popular video-sharing app - and an attempt to grapple with allegations that TikTok’s China-based parent, ByteDance, presents national security risks.
该法案以352票赞成、65票反对通过,这是两党对该流行视频分享应用的一次全面抨击,也是他们对TikTok的中国母公司字节跳动构成国家安全风险的一次尝试性指控。
(英文摘自2024.03.11 The New York Times 网站)
图片来源:TechCrunch
3. stall 停滞、迟延
Although U.S. senators from both main political parties share a desire to regulate TikTok, the TikTok bill is currently stalled in the Senate as legislators discuss revising its language and approach.
尽管美国两大政党的参议员都希望对TikTok进行监管,但该法案目前在参议院停滞不前,议员们正就修改法案措辞和实施方式进行讨论。
(英文摘自2024.04.03 Foreign Affairs 网站)
According to several US experts, the bill could stall when it goes to the Senate and could also be challenged in court.
据几位美国专家称,该法案可能会在提交参议院时停滞不前,也可能会在法庭上受到质疑。
(英文摘自2024.03.18 China Daily 网站)
4. meteoric 疾速的
The meteoric rise of TikTok, the innovative video-sharing platform created by the Chinese technology company ByteDance, represents a watershed achievement in the annals of global digital media and connectivity.
由中国科技公司字节跳动创建的革新性视频共享平台TikTok的迅速崛起,代表了全球数字媒体和互联互通上的一个分水岭。
(英文摘自2024.03.15 China Daily 网站)
Its meteoric rise over the past several years has been accompanied by warnings from national security officials and lawmakers that China’s communist government could gain access to its vast trove of data and use that information to spy on Americans.
在过去的几年里,该公司的迅速崛起伴随着(美国)国家安全官员和立法者的警告,他们称中国政府可获取其庞大的数据库,并利用这些信息监视美国人。
(英文摘自2024.03.07 CBS News 网站)
图片来源:Wall Street Journal
5. unfettered 不受约束的
Once national security is invoked, it gives almost unfettered latitude for the government to sidestep First Amendment concerns, because now this is almost like a wartime footing.
一旦援引国家安全,政府就几乎可以不受限制地回避第一修正案的问题,因为这时几乎就像是战时的立足点了。
(英文摘自2024.03.14 The Washington Post 网站)
The potential ramifications of allowing a foreign government unfettered access to user data far outweigh any short-term inconvenience.
允许外国政府不受限制地获取用户数据所带来的潜在后果远远超过任何短期不便。
(英文摘自2024.03.24 Arab News 网站)
6. cajole 劝诱、说服
The agency investigated the Chinese-owned social media app between 2020 and 2022 and found that its refusal mechanism was complex in such a way as to cajoleusers into accepting all cookies.
该机构在2020年至2022年期间对这家中国社交媒体应用进行了调查,发现其拒绝机制非常复杂,用此诱使用户接受所有网络设置(网络或互联网使用者发给中央服务器信息的计算机文件)。
Proponents may respond that ultimately, the bill is not about banning TikTok, but instead about cajoling parent company ByteDance into selling the app to American owners.
支持者可能会回应称,归根结底,该法案并不是为了禁止TikTok,而是为了说服其母公司字节跳动将该应用卖给美国用户。
(英文摘自2024.04.03 Time Magazine 网站)
图片来源:Northeastern Global News
二
文化速递
1. Cultural Powerhouse 文化引擎
In three short years, TikTok has grown in the public imagination from an app for dancing teens into an all-purpose cultural powerhouse, driving trends in music, food, news and politics, and changing the way people communicate online. In the process, it’s also become something else: a place where people buy things. Lots of them.
在短短的三年时间里,TikTok在公众心目中的形象已经从一个供青少年跳舞的应用程序成长为一个多功能的文化引擎,推动音乐、美食、新闻和政治的潮流,并改变人们在线交流的方式。在这一过程中,它还变成了人们在线购物的平台。
(英文摘自 The New York Times 网站)
图片来源:LinkedIn
2. Gen Z Z世代
TikTok is known for its viral dance videos and pop music. But for Generation Z, the video app is increasingly a search engine, too. More and more young people are using TikTok’s powerful algorithm - which personalizes the videos shown to them based on their interactions with content - to find information uncannily catered to their tastes. That tailoring is coupled with a sense that real people on the app are synthesizing and delivering information, rather than faceless websites.
TikTok因其流行舞蹈和流行音乐视频而闻名。但对于Z世代来说,这款视频应用也日益成为一个搜索引擎。越来越多的年轻人正在使用TikTok强大的算法——该算法会根据他们与内容的互动情况个性化地向他们展示视频——来寻找契合他们口味的信息。这种量身定制还让人感觉到,是真人在应用上合成并提供信息,而不是那些没有面孔的网站。
(英文摘自 The New York Times 网站)
撰文:周杼樾
审核:文晶、钱嘉童