it struck me that I was losing the ability

我突然覺得我正在失去能力

to engage with people who aren't like-minded.

來與不志同道合的人交往。

The idea of discussing hot-button issues with my fellow Americans

與我的美國同胞討論熱點問題的想法。

was starting to give me more heartburn

開始給我更多的胃灼熱

than the times that I engaged with suspected extremists overseas.

比我在海外與極端分子嫌疑人接觸的時候。

It was starting to leave me feeling more embittered and frustrated.

它開始讓我感到更加苦惱和沮喪。

And so just like that,

於是就這樣。

I shifted my entire focus

我把注意力全部轉移到了

from global national security threats

國家安全威脅的影響

to trying to understand what was causing this push

試圖瞭解是什麼原因導致了這種推力

towards extreme polarization at home.

在國內走向極致化。

As a former CIA officer and diplomat

作為一名前中情局官員和外交官。

who spent years working on counterextremism issues,

他花了多年時間研究反極端主義問題。

I started to fear that this was becoming a far greater threat to our democracy

我開始擔心這對我們的民主構成了更大的威脅。

than any foreign adversary.

勝過任何外國對手。

And so I started digging in,

於是，我開始挖掘。

and I started speaking out,

我開始說出來。

which eventually led me to being hired at Facebook

最終導致我被Facebook錄用。

and ultimately brought me here today

並最終把我帶到了今天

to continue warning you about how these platforms

繼續警告你，這些平臺如何

are manipulating and radicalizing so many of us

正在操縱和激進的我們這麼多。

and to talk about how to reclaim our public square.

並討論如何開墾我們的公共廣場。

I was a foreign service officer in Kenya

我在肯亞當過外交官

just a few years after the September 11 attacks,

就在 "9-11 "事件發生幾年後。

and I led what some call "hearts and minds" campaigns

而我則上司了一些人所謂的 "人心 "運動。

along the Somalia border.

在索馬里邊境沿線，

A big part of my job was to build trust with communities

我工作的一個重要部分是與社區建立信任。

deemed the most susceptible to extremist messaging.

被認為最容易受到極端主義資訊的影響。

I spent hours drinking tea with outspoken anti-Western clerics

我花了好幾個小時和那些直言不諱的反西方教士喝茶。

and even dialogued with some suspected terrorists,

甚至與一些恐怖分子嫌疑人對話。

and while many of these engagements began with mutual suspicion,

雖然這些約定很多都是在相互猜疑的情況下開始的。

I don't recall any of them resulting in shouting or insults,

我不記得有任何一次導致大喊大叫或侮辱。

and in some case we even worked together on areas of mutual interest.

在某些情況下，我們甚至在共同感興趣的領域進行合作。

The most powerful tools we had were to simply listen, learn

我們最有力的工具就是簡單的傾聽，學習。

and build empathy.

並建立同理心。

This is the essence of hearts and minds work,

這就是人心工作的本質。

because what I found again and again is that what most people wanted

因為我一次又一次地發現大多數人想要的是

was to feel heard, validated and respected.

是感到被傾聽、被認可和被尊重。

And I believe that's what most of us want.

而我相信這也是我們大多數人想要的。

So what I see happening online today is especially heartbreaking

所以我今天在網上看到的事情特別讓人心痛

and a much harder problem to tackle.

也是一個更難解決的問題。

We are being manipulated by the current information ecosystem

我們正在被當前的資訊生態系統所操縱。

entrenching so many of us so far into absolutism

使我們很多人陷入絕對主義的泥潭

that compromise has become a dirty word.

妥協已經成為一個骯髒的詞。

Because right now,

因為現在。

social media companies like Facebook

社交媒體公司，如Facebook

profit off of segmenting us and feeding us personalized content

通過對我們進行細分並向我們提供個性化的內容來獲利。

that both validates and exploits our biases.

既驗證又利用我們的偏見。

Their bottom line depends on provoking a strong emotion

他們的底線是要靠激起強烈的情緒。

to keep us engaged,

讓我們參與其中。

often incentivizing the most inflammatory and polarizing voices,

往往激勵著最具有煽動性和極化的聲音。

to the point where finding common ground no longer feels possible.

以至於覺得再也找不到共同點了。

And despite a growing chorus of people crying out for the platforms to change,

而儘管越來越多的人喊著要改變平臺。

it's clear they will not do enough on their own.

很明顯，他們自己的努力是不夠的。

So governments must define the responsibility

所以政府必須明確責任

for the real-world harms being caused by these business models

這些商業模式對現實世界造成的危害。

and impose real costs on the damaging effects

破壞性影響的實際代價

they're having to our public health, our public square and our democracy.

他們對我們的公共健康，我們的公共廣場和我們的民主有。

But unfortunately, this won't happen in time for the US presidential election,

但遺憾的是，這不會在美國總統大選前發生。

so I am continuing to raise this alarm,

所以，我在繼續發出這個警報。

because even if one day we do have strong rules in place,

因為即使有一天我們真的制定了強有力的規則。

it will take all of us to fix this.

這將需要我們所有人來解決這個問題。

When I started shifting my focus from threats abroad

當我開始把注意力從國外的威脅轉移到國內的時候。

to the breakdown in civil discourse at home,

到國內民間話語權的崩潰。

I wondered if we could repurpose some of these hearts and minds campaigns

我在想，我們是否可以重新利用一些這樣的人心活動呢？

to help heal our divides.

以幫助彌合我們的分歧。

Our more than 200-year experiment with democracy works

我們200多年的民主實驗成功了

in large part because we are able to openly and passionately

在很大程度上是因為我們能夠公開地、充滿激情地。

debate our ideas for the best solutions.

辯論我們的想法，尋找最佳的解決方案。

But while I still deeply believe

但是，雖然我仍然深深地相信

in the power of face-to-face civil discourse,

在面對面的民間話語權。

it just cannot compete

敵不過

with the polarizing effects and scale of social media right now.

與現在社交媒體的極化效應和規模。

The people who are sucked down these rabbit holes

被吸進這些兔子洞的人。

of social media outrage

輿論譁然

often feel far harder to break of their ideological mindsets

往往感覺到自己的思想觀念難以突破。

than those vulnerable communities I worked with ever were.

比我工作過的那些脆弱的社區有過之而無不及。

So when Facebook called me in 2018

所以當Facebook在2018年給我打電話時

and offered me this role

並給了我這個角色

heading its elections integrity operations for political advertising,

上司其政治廣告的選舉誠信業務。

I felt I had to say yes.

我覺得我必須要答應。

I had no illusions that I would fix it all,

我沒有幻想過我會解決這一切。

but when offered the opportunity

但當有機會

to help steer the ship in a better direction,

以幫助引導船舶向更好的方向發展。

I had to at least try.

我至少得試試。

I didn't work directly on polarization,

我沒有直接在極化上下功夫。

but I did look at which issues were the most divisive in our society

但我確實看了一下社會上哪些問題是最容易引起分歧的。

and therefore the most exploitable in elections interference efforts,

是以也是干涉選舉工作中最容易被利用的。

which was Russia's tactic ahead of 2016.

這是俄羅斯在2016年之前的策略。

So I started by asking questions.

於是，我就從問問題開始。

I wanted to understand the underlying systemic issues

我想了解潛在的系統性問題

that were allowing all of this to happen,

是允許這一切發生的。

in order to figure out how to fix it.

以便想辦法解決。

Now I still do believe in the power of the internet

現在我還是相信網絡的力量的

to bring more voices to the table,

帶來更多的聲音。

but despite their stated goal of building community,

但儘管他們提出了建立社區的目標。

the largest social media companies as currently constructed

目前最大的社交媒體公司

are antithetical to the concept of reasoned discourse.

是與理性話語的概念相對立的。

There's no way to reward listening,

沒有辦法獎勵聽。

to encourage civil debate

鼓勵文明辯論

and to protect people who sincerely want to ask questions

並保護真心實意想問問題的人。

in a business where optimizing engagement and user growth

在一個優化參與度和用戶增長的業務中。

are the two most important metrics for success.

是成功的兩個最重要的衡量標準。

There's no incentive to help people slow down,

沒有動力幫助人們慢下來。

to build in enough friction that people have to stop,

以建立足夠的摩擦，讓人們不得不停下來。

recognize their emotional reaction to something,

認識到自己對某件事的情緒反應。

and question their own assumptions before engaging.

並在參與之前質疑自己的假設。

The unfortunate reality is:

不幸的現實是：

lies are more engaging online than truth,

謊言在網上比真相更有吸引力。

and salaciousness beats out wonky, fact-based reasoning

歪打正著

in a world optimized for frictionless virality.

在一個優化的病毒性世界裡。

As long as algorithms' goals are to keep us engaged,

只要算法的目標是讓我們參與。

they will continue to feed us the poison that plays to our worst instincts

他們會繼續給我們提供毒藥，發揮我們最壞的本能。

and human weaknesses.

和人性的弱點。

And yes, anger, mistrust,

是的，憤怒，不信任。

the culture of fear, hatred:

恐懼、仇恨的文化。

none of this is new in America.

這些在美國都不新鮮。

But in recent years, social media has harnessed all of that

但近年來，社會化媒體已經利用這些

and, as I see it, dramatically tipped the scales.

而且，據我看來，戲劇性地傾斜了天平。

And Facebook knows it.

而Facebook也知道這一點。

A recent "Wall Street Journal" article

最近《華爾街日報》的一篇文章

exposed an internal Facebook presentation from 2018

曝光了2018年Facebook的一份內部簡報

that specifically points to the companies' own algorithms

的，特別指出公司自己的算法。

for growing extremist groups' presence on their platform

極端主義組織在其平臺上的存在感不斷增強

and for polarizing their users.

並因其用戶的極化。

But keeping us engaged is how they make their money.

但讓我們參與是他們賺錢的方式。

The modern information environment is crystallized around profiling us

現代資訊環境是圍繞著對我們進行剖析的結晶

and then segmenting us into more and more narrow categories

然後把我們抽成越來越窄的類別。

to perfect this personalization process.

來完善這個個性化的過程。

We're then bombarded with information confirming our views,

然後我們就會被資訊轟炸，證實我們的觀點。

reinforcing our biases,

加強了我們的偏見。

and making us feel like we belong to something.

並讓我們覺得自己屬於什麼。

These are the same tactics we would see terrorist recruiters

這些是同樣的策略，我們會看到恐怖招募者

using on vulnerable youth,

對弱勢青年使用。

albeit in smaller, more localized ways before social media,

儘管在社交媒體之前，是以更小的、更本地化的方式。

with the ultimate goal of persuading their behavior.

以說服其行為為最終目的。

Unfortunately, I was never empowered by Facebook to have an actual impact.

遺憾的是，我從來沒有被Facebook授權產生實際影響。

In fact, on my second day, my title and job description were changed

事實上，在我的第二天，我的頭銜和工作描述就被改變了。

and I was cut out of decision-making meetings.

而我被排除在決策會議之外。

My biggest efforts,

我最大的努力。

trying to build plans

試製

to combat disinformation and voter suppression in political ads,

打擊政治廣告中的虛假資訊和壓制選民行為；

were rejected.

被拒絕。

And so I lasted just shy of six months.

所以我只堅持了半年左右的時間。

But here is my biggest takeaway from my time there.

但這是我在那裡的最大收穫。

There are thousands of people at Facebook

在Facebook上有成千上萬的人

who are passionately working on a product

熱衷於產品的人

that they truly believe makes the world a better place,

他們真正相信會讓世界變得更美好。

but as long as the company continues to merely tinker around the margins

但是，只要公司繼續只是在利潤上做文章

of content policy and moderation,

的內容政策和節制。

as opposed to considering

而不是考慮

how the entire machine is designed and monetized,

整機如何設計和貨幣化。

they will never truly address how the platform is contributing

他們將永遠不會真正解決平臺如何促進

to hatred, division and radicalization.

仇恨、分裂和激進化。

And that's the one conversation I never heard happen during my time there,

而這是我在那裡的時候從未聽到過的一次對話。

because that would require fundamentally accepting

因為這需要從根本上接受

that the thing you built might not be the best thing for society

你建造的東西可能不是社會上最好的東西。

and agreeing to alter the entire product and profit model.

並同意改變整個產品和盈利模式。

So what can we do about this?

那麼，我們能做些什麼呢？

I'm not saying that social media bears the sole responsibility

我不是說社交媒體要承擔全部責任

for the state that we're in today.

對於我們今天的狀態。

Clearly, we have deep-seated societal issues that we need to solve.

顯然，我們有深層次的社會問題需要解決。

But Facebook's response, that it is just a mirror to society,

但Facebook的迴應，認為它只是社會的一面鏡子。

is a convenient attempt to deflect any responsibility

是一個方便的企圖，以轉移任何責任

from the way their platform is amplifying harmful content

從其平臺放大有害內容的方式來看

and pushing some users towards extreme views.

並將部分用戶推向極端觀點。

And Facebook could, if they wanted to,

而Facebook也可以，如果他們想。

fix some of this.

解決一些問題。

They could stop amplifying and recommending the conspiracy theorists,

他們可以停止放大和推薦陰謀論者。

the hate groups, the purveyors of disinformation

仇恨團體，虛假資訊的傳播者；

and, yes, in some cases even our president.

是的，在某些情況下，甚至我們的總統。

They could stop using the same personalization techniques

他們可以停止使用相同的個性化技術

to deliver political rhetoric that they use to sell us sneakers.

提供他們用來賣給我們運動鞋的政治言論。

They could retrain their algorithms

他們可以重新訓練他們的算法

to focus on a metric other than engagement,

以專注於參與度以外的指標。

and they could build in guardrails to stop certain content from going viral

他們可以建立護欄，以阻止某些內容的病毒式傳播。

before being reviewed.

在審查之前。

And they could do all of this

他們可以做到這一切

without becoming what they call the arbiters of truth.

而不成為他們所謂的真理仲裁者。

But they've made it clear that they will not go far enough

但他們已經明確表示，他們不會走得太遠。

to do the right thing without being forced to,

做正確的事情，而不被強迫。

and, to be frank, why should they?

坦白說，他們為什麼要這樣做？

The markets keep rewarding them, and they're not breaking the law.

市場一直在獎勵他們，他們也沒有違法。

Because as it stands,

因為就目前來看。

there are no US laws compelling Facebook, or any social media company,

美國沒有任何法律強制Facebook或任何社交媒體公司。

to protect our public square,

以保護我們的公共廣場。

our democracy

我們的民主

and even our elections.

甚至我們的選舉。

We have ceded the decision-making on what rules to write and what to enforce

我們已經把寫什麼規則和執行什麼規則的決策權讓給了別人。

to the CEOs of for-profit internet companies.

到營利性互聯網公司的CEO。

Is this what we want?

這是我們想要的嗎？

A post-truth world where toxicity and tribalism

毒性和部落主義的後真相世界

trump bridge-building and consensus-seeking?

王牌搭橋，尋求共識？

I do remain optimistic that we still have more in common with each other

我很樂觀，我們之間還有更多的共同點。

than the current media and online environment portray,

比目前媒體和網絡環境所描繪的。

and I do believe that having more perspective surface

我相信，有更多的視角表面

makes for a more robust and inclusive democracy.

使得民主更加健全和包容。

But not the way it's happening right now.

但不是現在這種情況。

And it bears emphasizing, I do not want to kill off these companies.

需要強調的是，我不想把這些公司幹掉。

I just want them held to a certain level of accountability,

我只是想讓他們承擔一定的責任。

just like the rest of society.

就像社會上的其他人一樣。

It is time for our governments to step up and do their jobs

現在是時候讓我們的政府站出來，做好他們的工作了。

of protecting our citizenry.

保護我們的公民。

And while there isn't one magical piece of legislation

雖然沒有一部神奇的法律。

that will fix this all,

這將解決這一切。

I do believe that governments can and must find the balance

我相信，政府可以而且必須找到平衡點。

between protecting free speech

在保護言論自由之間

and holding these platforms accountable for their effects on society.

並讓這些平臺對社會的影響負責。

And they could do so in part by insisting on actual transparency

而他們可以通過堅持實際的透明度來做到這一點。

around how these recommendation engines are working,

圍繞著這些推薦引擎是如何工作的。

around how the curation, amplification and targeting are happening.

圍繞如何進行策劃、放大和定位。

You see, I want these companies held accountable

你看，我想讓這些公司承擔責任。

not for if an individual posts misinformation

不針對個人發佈錯誤信息的情況

or extreme rhetoric,

或極端的言辭。

but for how their recommendation engines spread it,

但對於其推薦引擎如何傳播。

how their algorithms are steering people towards it,

他們的算法是如何引導人們走向。

and how their tools are used to target people with it.

以及如何利用他們的工具來針對有的人。

I tried to make change from within Facebook and failed,

我試圖從Facebook內部進行更改，但失敗了。

and so I've been using my voice again for the past few years

所以這幾年我又開始用嗓子了。

to continue sounding this alarm

繼續敲響這個警鐘

and hopefully inspire more people to demand this accountability.

並希望能激勵更多的人要求這種問責。

My message to you is simple:

我給你們的資訊很簡單。

pressure your government representatives

向政府代表施壓

to step up and stop ceding our public square to for-profit interests.

出面，不要再把我們的公共廣場拱手讓給營利性利益集團。

Help educate your friends and family

幫助教育您的朋友和家人

about how they're being manipulated online.

關於他們如何在網上被操縱。

Push yourselves to engage with people who aren't like-minded.

推進自己與不志同道合的人交往。

Make this issue a priority.

把這個問題作為優先事項。

We need a whole-society approach to fix this.

我們需要用全社會的方法來解決這個問題。

And my message to the leaders of my former employer Facebook is this:

而我給前僱主Facebook的上司的資訊是：。