美国国家公共电台 NPR--Musk reveals how Twitter has handled some high-profile decisions

Musk¹ reveals how Twitter has handled some high-profile decisions

Transcript²

Elon Musk is using his selective release of internal Twitter communications to advance his own partisan³ causes and conspiracy⁴ theories.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

Twitter owner Elon Musk says he's pulling back the curtain on how the social network has handled some high-profile decisions on what you can and cannot tweet. He released internal documents to a handpicked group of journalists who have been digging through them and posting excerpts⁵ on Twitter. But is this corporate⁶ transparency or just the latest attention-grabbing stunt⁷ by the billionaire CEO? NPR correspondent Shannon Bond joins us. Shannon, OK, for listeners who might not be familiar, what are the Twitter Files?

SHANNON BOND, BYLINE⁸: Yeah, as you said, they're internal documents. These are emails and Slack chats. And they show Twitter employees, most of whom are no longer at the company, discussing the company's policies and some of these really fraught⁹ calls they've had to make in recent years, including the decision to ban then-President Donald Trump¹⁰ after the January 6 Capitol attack, as well as some details about how Twitter limits the reach of some users, including well-known right wing accounts that have broken its rules. Now, many Republicans have long claimed they are being censored¹¹ on social media, even though Twitter's own internal research has found its algorithms favor right-leaning political content. And so Musk and those that he's given access to have framed these documents as this bombshell, as proof that Twitter has, in fact, intentionally¹² suppressed conservatives for politically motivated reasons.

MART?NEZ: All right, Shannon. So now that we have a peek¹³ behind the Twitter curtain, what's new to you?

BOND: Well, you know, I've covered social media for a while. And this is, you know, an interesting look inside these high-stakes, controversial moderation processes. But it's not a bombshell. I mean, take Twitter's decision in 2020 to briefly¹⁴ block people from sharing a New York Post story based on Hunter Biden's laptop. You know, that was controversial. The company said very publicly later it was a mistake how it had handled this. And these new internal documents - they show Twitter employees struggling with what to do in that case and questioning their own policies.

MART?NEZ: Now, the audience for these files seems to be Elon Musk's conservative supporters. So how are they receiving this.

BOND: Yeah, I mean, for many of them, the mere¹⁵ existence of these internal discussions is the smoking gun. And that's certainly how Musk is framing this. And it's quickly gotten quite ugly. You know, Musk is using this project, which purports¹⁶ to be about transparency, in part to harass¹⁷ people he disagrees with. And he's giving his followers¹⁸ easy targets to go after. Over the weekend, he attacked Twitter's former head of safety, Yoel Roth, who features heavily in these documents, as well as Dr. Anthony Fauci. Musk says he will feature in future installments¹⁹ of the Twitter Files. And in both cases, Musk endorsed²⁰ conspiracy theories and has triggered violent threats against both men.

MART?NEZ: So if Musk is critiquing Twitter's old management, their previous management, what is he doing differently?

BOND: Yeah, I mean, that's a good question, right? Because for better or worse, the old Twitter did have a set of policies and processes. And it didn't always follow them, but it did have them. Under Musk, it's really kind of whatever he wants to do. You know, he's in control. Just yesterday, he dissolved the company's Trust and Safety Council, this outside advisory²¹ group. At the same time, he's endorsed some existing policies that the Twitter Files have cast as censorship, like limiting the visibility of tweets that break the rules. And he's also reinstated thousands of accounts that had been banned for breaking the rules, including former President Trump, as well as neo-Nazis and white nationalists and QAnon promoters. At the same time, he says he won't let Alex Jones, the conspiracy theorist, or Kanye West, back on the platform. But instead of talking about any of these decisions Musk is making now, we're talking about what Twitter did a couple years back. And for me, that's the biggest takeaway. Musk is using Twitter to get people talking about Twitter on Twitter.

MART?NEZ: NPR's Shannon Bond, thanks a lot.

BOND: Thanks, A.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 musk   

n.麝香, 能发出麝香的各种各样的植物，香猫

参考例句：

• Musk is used for perfume and stimulant.麝香可以用作香料和兴奋剂。
• She scented her clothes with musk.她用麝香使衣服充满了香味。

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 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

4 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。

5 excerpts   

n.摘录，摘要( excerpt的名词复数 )；节选（音乐，电影）片段

参考例句：

• Some excerpts from a Renaissance mass are spatchcocked into Gluck's pallid Don Juan music. 一些文艺复光时期的弥撒的选节被不适当地加入到了格鲁克平淡无味的唐璜音乐中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is editing together excerpts of some of his films. 他正在将自己制作的一些电影的片断进行剪辑合成。 来自辞典例句

6 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

7 stunt   

n.惊人表演，绝技，特技；vt.阻碍...发育，妨碍...生长

参考例句：

• Lack of the right food may stunt growth.缺乏适当的食物会阻碍发育。
• Right up there is where the big stunt is taking place.那边将会有惊人的表演。

8 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。

9 fraught   

adj.充满…的，伴有(危险等)的；忧虑的

参考例句：

• The coming months will be fraught with fateful decisions.未来数月将充满重大的决定。
• There's no need to look so fraught!用不着那么愁眉苦脸的！

10 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。

11 censored   

受审查的，被删剪的

参考例句：

• The news reports had been heavily censored . 这些新闻报道已被大幅删剪。
• The military-backed government has heavily censored the news. 有军方撑腰的政府对新闻进行了严格审查。

12 intentionally   

ad.故意地，有意地

参考例句：

• I didn't say it intentionally. 我是无心说的。
• The local authority ruled that he had made himself intentionally homeless and was therefore not entitled to be rehoused. 当地政府裁定他是有意居无定所，因此没有资格再获得提供住房。

13 peek   

vi.偷看，窥视；n.偷偷的一看，一瞥

参考例句：

• Larry takes a peek out of the window.赖瑞往窗外偷看了一下。
• Cover your eyes and don't peek.捂上眼睛，别偷看。

14 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

15 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

16 purports   

v.声称是…，（装得）像是…的样子( purport的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She purports to represent the whole group. 她自称代表整个团体。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The document purports to be official but is really private. 那份文件据称是官方的，但实际上是私人的。 来自辞典例句

17 harass   

vt.使烦恼，折磨，骚扰

参考例句：

• Our mission is to harass the landing of the main Japaness expeditionary force.我们的任务是骚乱日本远征军主力的登陆。
• They received the order to harass the enemy's rear.他们接到骚扰敌人后方的命令。

18 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

19 installments   

部分( installment的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The first two installments were pretty close together in 1980. 第一次和节二次提款隔得很近，都是在1980年提的。
• You have an installments sales contract. 你已经订立了一份分期付款的买卖契约了。

20 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。