美国国家公共电台 NPR Did Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg Intend To Deceive?

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

This past week, the Federal Trade Commission decided¹ to enter into a settlement with Mark Zuckerberg, head of Facebook, which I'll say here is an NPR sponsor. The FTC entered into that settlement without interviewing Zuckerberg first. And as NPR's Aarti Shahani reports, the government may have missed its chance to find out more about Facebook's practices.

AARTI SHAHANI, BYLINE²: The year was 2014. Mark Zuckerberg was onstage at F8, Facebook's annual conference, with a promise to users.

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MARK ZUCKERBERG: The thing is we don't ever want anyone to be surprised about how they're sharing on Facebook. I mean, that's not good for anyone.

SHAHANI: His company had gotten caught taking the personal data of Facebook users and, without consent, handing it off to outsiders, third-party app developers. So this was his promise.

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ZUCKERBERG: Now we're going to change this, and we're going to make it so that now everyone has to choose to share their own data with an app themselves. So we think that this is a really important step for giving people power and control.

SHAHANI: Sounds great - only, it wasn't true. According to the Federal Trade Commission, Facebook kept handing over user data secretly without consent to dozens of outside developers. Mark Zuckerberg said one thing while his company did another. It was not an isolated³ incident. In 2018, he did it again - this time, not on his own stage but in front of the entire country.

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ZUCKERBERG: It's clear now that we didn't do enough to prevent these tools from being used for harm as well.

SHAHANI: Zuckerberg, summoned to the U.S. Congress, apologized for enabling Russian interference in the American elections, for helping⁴ to spread hate speech and also for violating the privacy of users.

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ZUCKERBERG: And that was a big mistake, and it was my mistake, and I'm sorry. I started Facebook. I run it. And I'm responsible for what happens here.

SHAHANI: Sounds great - only, in the same month Zuckerberg gave that speech, regulators say the company began to use facial recognition tracking on some 60 million users - again, without consent. Rohit Chopra is an FTC commissioner⁵ who voted against entering the settlement with Facebook.

ROHIT CHOPRA: It's still really a mystery to me as to what role he played.

SHAHANI: The majority of his colleagues - three Republicans - voted in favor of settling. Facebook got fined for $5 billion. The regulators say that's more than they would have gotten in court if they'd litigated. Chopra, a Democrat⁶, says his agency underplayed its hand and sacrificed the truth in the process.

CHOPRA: We cut off this investigation⁷ too early. Facebook was willing to pay more money in order to hide Mark Zuckerberg's testimony⁸ from this investigation.

SHAHANI: The FTC spoke⁹ to Zuckerberg's lawyers, never to him. He was not required to answer questions or turn over his emails. And the settlement lets the CEO off the hook for the many privacy mishaps¹⁰ the FTC scrutinized¹¹. It bothers Chopra that his agency didn't pursue the truth. Zuckerberg's actions may stand at odds¹² with the philanthropic, altruistic¹³ image he's worked so hard to cultivate. And he isn't just a CEO. He structured the stock so that he controls the majority of votes in Facebook. Chopra says in other cases, when a chief calls the shots in a firm, the FTC takes a hard look at him or her.

CHOPRA: We didn't even want to look at something that seemed fundamentally important and instead traded it away for a higher fine. And none of that money will actually go to Facebook's users.

SHAHANI: The $5 billion goes to the U.S. Treasury¹⁴. Zuckerberg lauded¹⁵ the settlement, saying in a post that his company has a privacy-focused vision. Facebook did not respond to Chopra's criticisms when NPR asked. Meanwhile, Zuckerberg's team is on Capitol Hill trying to get permission to mint money, a new digital currency. This cannot succeed without the public trust. Facebook is making the case that lawmakers and regulators should trust it. Chopra says he doesn't trust Mark Zuckerberg or his company. Aarti Shahani, NPR News.

1 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

6 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

7 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

8 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 mishaps   

n.轻微的事故，小的意外( mishap的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a series of mishaps 一连串的倒霉事
• In spite of one or two minor mishaps everything was going swimmingly. 尽管遇到了一两件小小的不幸，一切都进行得很顺利。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 scrutinized   

v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The jeweler scrutinized the diamond for flaws. 宝石商人仔细察看钻石有无瑕庇 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Together we scrutinized the twelve lemon cakes from the delicatessen shop. 我们一起把甜食店里买来的十二块柠檬蛋糕细细打量了一番。 来自英汉文学 - 盖茨比

12 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

13 altruistic   

adj.无私的，为他人着想的

参考例句：

• It is superficial to be altruistic without feeling compassion.无慈悲之心却说利他，是为表面。
• Altruistic spirit should be cultivated by us vigorously.利他的精神是我们应该努力培养的。

14 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

15 lauded   

v.称赞，赞美( laud的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They lauded the former president as a hero. 他们颂扬前总统为英雄。 来自辞典例句
• The nervy feats of the mountaineers were lauded. 登山者有勇气的壮举受到赞美。 来自辞典例句