美国国家公共电台 NPR--Twitch's reputation takes a hit when Buffalo shooter used it to livestream attack

Twitch¹'s reputation takes a hit when Buffalo² shooter used it to livestream attack

Transcript³

The video streaming site Twitch, which is owned by Amazon, is in the limelight after the accused Buffalo shooter used it to livestream the massacre⁴.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

In 2019, a gunman in Germany went live on the video streaming site Twitch. That apparently⁵ inspired the shooter in Buffalo the other day. Investigators⁶ say he wrote about this. NPR's Bobby Allyn takes a closer look at Twitch's role.

BOBBY ALLYN, BYLINE⁷: What makes Twitch so popular among video gamers is how easy and quick it is to livestream and find an audience. Harvard social media researcher Emily Dreyfuss says that's a blessing⁸ and a curse.

EMILY DREYFUSS: Livestreaming is always a risk that someone is going to livestream something terrible.

ALLYN: She noted⁹ that Twitch did act fast. The company was able to remove the live feed in less than 2 minutes after it started. Still, she thinks if the gunman had no easy way to livestream, he might not have gone through with the killing¹⁰.

DREYFUSS: That may honestly have stopped him from doing it because in an instance like this, the media is part of the point.

ALLYN: In his writing, the Buffalo suspect said he hoped a livestream on Twitch would amplify¹¹ his reach. An average of 31 million people use the Amazon-owned Twitch every day, for everything from streaming concerts to watching influencers eat lunch. But it's mostly a community for video gamers. Just ask 36-year-old Ben Fulton in North Carolina.

BEN FULTON: I'm actually a full-time¹² content creator on YouTube and Twitch.

ALLYN: Like many on Twitch, Fulton livestreams himself playing video games for hours and hours a day. People pay to watch him do this.

FULTON: One could make the argument, why would you want to watch football or soccer when you can play it? It's the same sort of analogy of why you'd want to watch video gaming if you could just play it.

ALLYN: He narrates¹³ as he plays, like he's doing here on a recent stream of him playing a medieval role-playing game.

(SOUNDBITE OF TWITCH STREAM)

FULTON: No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm not escorting your mules¹⁴. Get out of here.

ALLYN: When he heard the Buffalo massacre was broadcast on Twitch, he was disgusted. And he knew it would overshadow what so many others do on the platform every day.

FULTON: If you consider all of the millions upon millions of hours of streams on Twitch that weren't mass shootings, for such a tiny fraction of its content to be known that way would be pretty tragic¹⁵.

ALLYN: The shooting isn't just a hit to Twitch's reputation. It could be in legal trouble, too. New York Attorney General Letitia James has announced that online platforms like Twitch and Discord¹⁶, which was used by the gunman, are under investigation¹⁷. Inside Twitch, leaders have pored over how the company responded and have called emergency meetings to discuss the incident. In a statement, Twitch said white supremacy¹⁸ and hate have no place on the platform. It acknowledged that livestreaming presents unique challenges. Twitch streamer Fulton, who used to work as a software engineer, says there's no easy way to police a livestream as it's happening.

FULTON: If I was in Twitch's shoes, I'm not sure that there is a good answer other than a lot of human review. I think if you leave it up to an AI, it will fail.

ALLYN: Twitch does use a mix of human reviewers and artificial intelligence. With livestreams. There are limitations to both. Twitch can't staff enough people to actively¹⁹ monitor every single livestream, and AI can be flawed. Pulling down the Buffalo shooting feed within 2 minutes was applauded as a success, but that didn't stop it from popping up on various other corners of the internet. Harvard researcher Dreyfuss says focusing too much on what more Twitch can do misses some larger forces at play in society.

DREYFUSS: We have to figure out how to break this cycle of incentivizing people for becoming famous for violence.

ALLYN: That cycle has been around for centuries, but social media has sped it up. Bobby Allyn, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF SUBLAB AND AZALEH'S "ARCANUM")

1 twitch   

v.急拉，抽动，痉挛，抽搐；n.扯，阵痛，痉挛

参考例句：

• The smell made my dog's nose twitch.那股气味使我的狗的鼻子抽动着。
• I felt a twitch at my sleeve.我觉得有人扯了一下我的袖子。

2 buffalo   

n.(北美)野牛；(亚洲)水牛

参考例句：

• Asian buffalo isn't as wild as that of America's. 亚洲水牛比美洲水牛温顺些。
• The boots are made of buffalo hide. 这双靴子是由水牛皮制成的。

3 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。

4 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

5 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

6 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 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。

8 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

9 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

10 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

11 amplify   

vt.放大，增强；详述，详加解说

参考例句：

• The new manager wants to amplify the company.新经理想要扩大公司。
• Please amplify your remarks by giving us some examples.请举例详述你的话。

12 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

13 narrates   

v.故事( narrate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• It narrates the unconstitutional acts of James II. 它历数了詹姆斯二世的违法行为。 来自辞典例句
• Chapter three narrates the economy activity which Jew return the Occident. 第三章讲述了犹太人重返西欧后的经济活动。 来自互联网

14 mules   

骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者

参考例句：

• The cart was pulled by two mules. 两匹骡子拉这辆大车。
• She wore tight trousers and high-heeled mules. 她穿紧身裤和拖鞋式高跟鞋。

15 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

16 discord   

n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐

参考例句：

• These two answers are in discord.这两个答案不一样。
• The discord of his music was hard on the ear.他演奏的不和谐音很刺耳。

17 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。

18 supremacy   

n.至上；至高权力

参考例句：

• No one could challenge her supremacy in gymnastics.她是最优秀的体操运动员，无人能胜过她。
• Theoretically,she holds supremacy as the head of the state.从理论上说，她作为国家的最高元首拥有至高无上的权力。

19 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。