美国国家公共电台 NPR--Former President Trump will be allowed to return to Facebook and Instagram

Former President Trump¹ will be allowed to return to Facebook and Instagram

Transcript²

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, says it will restore former President Donald Trump's accounts following a two-year suspension imposed after the Jan. 6 insurrection.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The next time Donald Trump takes a selfie, he may, if he chooses, post it on Instagram.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Yeah. He can also use Facebook if he likes to, you know, comment on your mother-in-law's family news. Meta, the company that owns both platforms, says he may come back. They lifted the suspension imposed two years ago when Trump tried to overturn a democratic election.

INSKEEP: We do not know if the former president will come back to those platforms, but NPR's Shannon Bond has been asking why he is allowed. Shannon, good morning.

SHANNON BOND, BYLINE³: Good morning, Steve.

INSKEEP: What is Meta's reasoning?

BOND: Well, essentially⁴, it says time has passed. Things are different. Immediately after the Capitol insurrection, Meta thought the risk that Trump would incite⁵ more violence was just too high to let him keep posting. And remember, this wasn't just a move from Facebook and Instagram. He was also kicked off of Twitter and YouTube and Snapchat. It was really this unprecedented⁶ and controversial wave.

But then Facebook said it would reconsider its ban after two years. And that time is up. The company says it's gone through this process, reviewing its own policies and the larger environment, including how the midterm elections went. And it says it thinks the risk to public safety has, quote, "sufficiently⁸ receded⁹." Facebook says it believes people should be able to hear what politicians have to say. But it also says Trump does have to follow its rules. And so it's going to put guardrails in place.

INSKEEP: What kind of guardrails do they mean?

BOND: Well, because of what happened in large part on January 6, Facebook has created a new set of policies specifically for public figures in times of civil unrest and violence. And that means if Trump continues to break the rules, he could face up to another two-year suspension. And given just how high-profile he is, these previous violations¹⁰, Meta says they're going to watch very closely what he posts, even content that might be, you know, borderline.

INSKEEP: There might be a lot of people posting opinions about this decision regarding Donald Trump.

BOND: Yes. I mean, this is a decision that, like the decision to suspend him in the first place, is very controversial. You know, he has been - since being kicked off of mainstream¹¹ social media, he's been posting on his own website, Truth Social, false claims of election fraud, Qanon conspiracy¹² theories. And so Democratic politicians and civil rights organizations and advocacy groups are pointing to that and saying it shows he is still a big risk to public safety. Some also say this sets a dangerous precedent⁷ around the world, you know? There are far-right, authoritarian¹³ leaders who look to Trump and how he uses social media as a model. Trump, meanwhile, is taking a victory lap on Truth Social. He says this should never happen again to a sitting president. But the next question is, will he actually use Facebook again once he gets his account back in the coming weeks? You know, he was allowed back on Twitter back in November. But he has not been posting there. He's stuck to Truth Social.

INSKEEP: Well, help me understand - in this changing social media landscape, is it a powerful tool for a politician to be on Facebook at this point or to be denied it, for that matter?

BOND: Yeah. I mean, Facebook, it does not, probably, have the clout¹⁴ it did when Trump was banned. You know, things have changed. But what it's very important for is fundraising. And - right? - Trump is running for president again in 2024. That is going to be a really critical channel. In fact, his campaign formally petitioned Facebook to let him back on. You know, and I think, no matter how much he talks up Truth Social, which he helped create and financially backs, there, he has just a fraction of the reach he has on Facebook and Twitter. So it's hard to imagine there wouldn't be a very strong pull for him to return to these bigger platforms.

INSKEEP: NPR's Shannon Bond has enormous reach here on this platform. Shannon, thank you so much.

BOND: Thanks, Steve.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 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。

4 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

5 incite   

v.引起，激动，煽动

参考例句：

• I wanted to point out he was a very good speaker, and could incite a crowd.我想说明他曾是一个非常出色的演讲家，非常会调动群众的情绪。
• Just a few words will incite him into action.他只需几句话一将，就会干。

6 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

7 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

8 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

9 receded   

v.逐渐远离( recede的过去式和过去分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题

参考例句：

• The floodwaters have now receded. 洪水现已消退。
• The sound of the truck receded into the distance. 卡车的声音渐渐在远处消失了。

10 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

11 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

12 conspiracy   

n.阴谋，密谋，共谋

参考例句：

• The men were found guilty of conspiracy to murder.这些人被裁决犯有阴谋杀人罪。
• He claimed that it was all a conspiracy against him.他声称这一切都是一场针对他的阴谋。

13 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

14 clout   

n.用手猛击；权力，影响力

参考例句：

• The queen may have privilege but she has no real political clout.女王有特权，但无真正的政治影响力。
• He gave the little boy a clout on the head.他在那小男孩的头部打了一下。