美国国家公共电台 NPR 遭FTC和48个州联合起诉 Facebook或面临拆分命运

For years, Facebook has become bigger and more powerful, buying other tech companies along the way. And today, the social media giant got hit with a one-two punch — first, a lawsuit¹ from 48 attorneys general across the country and then another lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission. Both say Facebook has gone too far. NPR tech correspondent Shannon Bond joins us.

多年来，脸谱网日益壮大，一路走来收购了多家科技公司。今天，这家社交媒体巨头遭到“组合拳”打击——先是美国48名检察官的诉讼，然后是美国联邦贸易委员会的另一桩诉讼。他们均称脸谱网做得太过了。NPR新闻的技术记者香农·邦德将和我们连线。

And we need to mention that Facebook is a financial supporter of NPR.

我们需要指出，脸谱网是NPR新闻的金融支持者。

Hi, Shannon.

你好，香农。

SHANNON BOND, BYLINE²: Hi, Ari.

香农·邦德连线：你好，阿里。

SHAPIRO: Walk us through the argument that these lawsuits³ are making.

夏皮罗：请介绍一下这些诉讼的论点。

BOND: Sure. So the FTC and these states have been investigating Facebook together, and the core accusation⁴ is the same in both suits. Here's what New York Attorney General Letitia James, who led the state's investigation⁵, said at a press conference today.

邦德：好。美国联邦贸易委员会和这些州一直在联合调查脸谱网，两起诉讼的核心指控是相同的。以下是领导纽约州调查的纽约州总检察长莱蒂娅·詹姆斯今天在记者会上所说。

(SOUNDBITE OF PRESS CONFERENCE)

（记者会录音）

LETITIA JAMES: For nearly a decade, Facebook has used its dominance and monopoly power to crush smaller rivals and snuff out competition, all at the expense of everyday users.

莱蒂娅·詹姆斯：近10年来，脸谱网一直在利用自己的主导地位和垄断势力，打压较小的竞争对手，扼杀竞争，这一切都是以牺牲普通用户为代价的。

BOND: So James described this strategy at Facebook of crushing the competition by buying or burying. So in the first case, you know, she says, Facebook spends huge amounts of money to buy companies that it sees as potential rivals. And the key companies at issue here are Instagram, which Facebook bought in 2012, and WhatsApp, which it bought a few years later. And those deals, you know, they really helped Facebook gain users, especially on smartphones, and become even more powerful. You know, today, more than 2 billion people use its apps every day.

邦德：詹姆斯称脸谱网通过收购或“埋葬”的策略来击败竞争对手。她表示，在第一种情况下，脸谱网斥巨资收购被其视为潜在竞争对手的公司。这方面存在争议的主要公司是脸谱网在2012年收购的Instagram和几年后收购的WhatsApp。这些交易确实帮助脸谱网赢得了用户，尤其是智能手机用户，而且也使其变得更加强大。如今，每天有超过20亿人使用其应用程序。

SHAPIRO: So that's the buy part of the equation. What about the bury? How does James say Facebook crushed competitors?

BOND: Right. So for companies that rebuffed Facebook's offers to do a deal or that it didn't want to buy, prosecutors⁶ say Facebook lured⁷ them in — lured their developers in — with promises they could plug into its systems and access its data. And then they allege⁸ if those companies look like they might be a competitive threat, Facebook would pull the plug.

So as an example, you might remember Vine, the short video app. It was really popular. You could look on there and find your Facebook friends in the app until Facebook cut off that access. And what, you know, James and the FTC allege is that this buy or bury strategy, it not only harmed competitors, it also actually hurt social media users because they have less choice over what social networks to use.

夏皮罗：这是收购的部分。那“埋葬”呢？在脸谱网打压竞争对手方面，詹姆斯怎么说？

邦德：好。检察官表示，对于那些拒绝脸谱网交易要约或其不想收购的公司，脸谱网会承诺他们可以接入其系统并访问其数据，以此来引诱开发者。之后，脸谱网称，如果这些公司看起来像是竞争威胁，脸谱网就会关闭他们的访问入口。

举例来说，你可能还记得短视频应用程序Vine。这款应用相当受欢迎。人们原先可以在上面找到脸谱网好友，但后来脸谱网中断了该应用的访问。詹姆斯和联邦贸易委员会称，这种“收购或埋葬”的策略，不仅损害了竞争对手，也损害了社交媒体用户，因为他们对使用何种社交网络的选择较少。

SHAPIRO: So what are these lawsuits seeking? I mean, how do they propose to dismantle⁹ this, if that's actually what they want?

夏皮罗：那这些诉讼的目的是什么？如果他们真的想进行拆分，那他们打算怎么做？

BOND: Well, among other things, both lawsuits have a really big ask. They're basically asking the courts to look at breaking up Facebook, forcing it to undo¹⁰ these purchases of Instagram and WhatsApp, which, of course, are its crown jewels. And you know, that's a really big ask. The attorney generals' suit also asked the court to block Facebook from making any new deals worth more than $10 million while this case is going on. And, you know, $10 million sounds like a lot of money, but that's not necessarily a lot for a tech company. So that could basically stop Facebook from buying almost, you know, anything that it might have its eye on while this is all happening.

邦德：其他的暂且不说，这两起诉讼都有非常大的诉求。基本上来说，他们要求法院考虑拆分脸谱网，并迫使其撤销对Instagram和WhatsApp的收购，当然，这两款应用是脸谱网“皇冠上的宝石”。这是一个非常大的诉求。各州总检察长提起的诉讼还要求法院在本案调查期间阻止脸谱网进行任何价值超过1000万美元的新交易。1000万美元听起来是一大笔钱，但对于一家科技公司来说，不一定如此。因此，这基本上可以阻止脸谱网在诉讼期间收购其可能关注的任何公司。

SHAPIRO: Now, Facebook has been under this kind of criticism from Congress for a while, although these lawsuits are new. How does Facebook respond to to these critiques?

夏皮罗：脸谱网遭受国会的这种指责已经有一段时间了，尽管这些诉讼是新提起的。脸谱网对这些指责作何回应？

BOND: That's right. Well, Facebook says, you know, look, the FTC had a chance to raise concerns over the purchases of Instagram and WhatsApp back when they happened years ago, and it didn't do it. So Facebook is accusing the government of asking for a do-over. It says that's just not fair. It also says, you know, that Instagram and WhatsApp are so successful in large part because Facebook bought them and invested in them. And it says it's unfair to try to punish them for that success.

邦德：没错。脸谱网表示，你看，美国联邦贸易委员会早在几年前就有机会对Instagram和WhatsApp的收购案提出担忧，但当时该机构并未这样做。因此，脸谱网指责政府想推倒重来。该公司认为这不公平。脸谱网还称，Instagram和WhatsApp之所以如此成功，很大程度上是因为脸谱网收购了它们并进行了投资。该公司说，因为这种成功而惩罚他们是不公平的。

You know, Facebook also has pointed¹¹ repeatedly to other competition it faces in social media. It says it's not the only player. Look at TikTok, which has gained lots of users. But you know, Ari, four years, these biggest tech companies, you know, they didn't receive a lot of scrutiny¹² or regulation. That is really starting to change. Just in October, the U.S. Justice Department sued Google, alleging¹³ anti-competitive behaviour.

另外，脸谱网一再指出其在社交媒体领域面临的其他竞争。该公司说，其不是唯一的参与者。看看抖音，这款应用已经收获了很多用户。但是，阿里，四年来，这些最大的科技公司并未受到太多审查和监管。现在，这种情况已经开始改变。就在今年10月，美国司法部起诉了谷歌，指控其存在违反竞争行为。

SHAPIRO: That's NPR tech correspondent Shannon Bond. Thank you.

夏皮罗：以上是NPR新闻的科技记者香农·邦德带来的报道。谢谢你。

BOND: Thank you.

邦德：谢谢你。

1 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

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 lawsuits   

n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Lawsuits involving property rights and farming and grazing rights increased markedly. 涉及财产权，耕作与放牧权的诉讼案件显著地增加。 来自辞典例句
• I've lost and won more lawsuits than any man in England. 全英国的人算我官司打得最多，赢的也多，输的也多。 来自辞典例句

4 accusation   

n.控告，指责，谴责

参考例句：

• I was furious at his making such an accusation.我对他的这种责备非常气愤。
• She knew that no one would believe her accusation.她知道没人会相信她的指控。

5 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。

6 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

7 lured   

吸引，引诱（lure的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The child was lured into a car but managed to escape. 那小孩被诱骗上了车，但又设法逃掉了。
• Lured by the lust of gold,the pioneers pushed onward. 开拓者在黄金的诱惑下，继续奋力向前。

8 allege   

vt.宣称，申述，主张，断言

参考例句：

• The newspaper reporters allege that the man was murdered but they have given no proof.新闻记者们宣称这个男人是被谋杀的，但他们没提出证据。
• Students occasionally allege illness as the reason for absence.学生时不时会称病缺课。

9 dismantle   

vt.拆开，拆卸；废除，取消

参考例句：

• He asked for immediate help from the United States to dismantle the warheads.他请求美国立即提供援助，拆除这批弹头。
• The mower firmly refused to mow,so I decided to dismantle it.修完后割草机还是纹丝不动，于是，我决定把它拆开。

10 undo   

vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销

参考例句：

• His pride will undo him some day.他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。
• I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel.我悄悄地设法解开了包裹的一角。

11 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

12 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

13 alleging   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• His reputation was blemished by a newspaper article alleging he'd evaded his taxes. 由于报上一篇文章声称他曾逃税，他的名誉受到损害。
• This our Peeress declined as unnecessary, alleging that her cousin Thornhill's recommendation would be sufficient. 那位贵人不肯，还说不必，只要有她老表唐希尔保荐就够了。