喀麦隆采取措施控制社交媒体

Cameroon Taking Steps to Control Social Media 喀麦隆采取措施控制社交媒体

Social media use has risen sharply in Cameroon, as have the government’s efforts to control it.

Our story begins at a church in Limbe, in southwestern Cameroon. These church members are praying for three men.

A military court ruled against the three earlier this month. The men were arrested after they reportedly shared a joke about a membership campaign for the Boko Haram terrorist group on social media.

The trial was not open to the public. The rights group Amnesty International and local rights activists¹ condemned² the court’s ruling.

Tabot Timothy is a 22-year-old law student at the University of Douala-Cameroon. He joined others at the religious center one day recently to protest the ruling.

“It was just normal for a thorough investigation³ to be carried out to really ascertain⁴ the fact that these guys were joking. It is unjust. Thorough investigations⁵ were not carried out.”

The government has used several laws to limit mobile and online communication, including an anti-terrorism law passed in 2014.

Barrister George Marcellin Tsoungui is with the Cameroon Bar Council.

He says people who use social media to spread unproven information can be sentenced to between six months and two years in prison and fined $10,000 to $20,000. He says the punishments can be twice those amounts if a court rules that the communications were designed to cause unrest.

Police detained a journalist in January after he incorrectly reported on social media that President Paul Biya had visited soldiers in Cameroon’s north.

In March, police arrested people accused of sharing a letter from the country’s minister of defense⁶ on social media. The letter was released without the minister’s permission. It said that Boko Haram members had arrived in the capital, Yaounde.

The National Communications Council has the power to stop reporters from working and close media businesses. It is investigating 20 complaints made by top government officials. One of the reports is about a minister who was seen on Facebook dancing to the music of Franko -- a singer whose songs are banned by the government.

Yet social media and mobile messaging apps and networking sites are increasingly popular in Cameroon. In fact, they are used by both opponents and supporters of the government.

Nelson Tawe has examined the spread of social media in Cameroon.

“Social media is inevitable⁷. It’s like a devil that you are called upon to live with. It’s difficult to suppress it. It’s just going to be like throwing water on the duck’s back. Social media has come to stay -- there’s no way you can suppress it. I think that (the) government will have an uphill task to succeed in what it’s trying to do.”

Several other African countries have taken actions against people who use social media in ways governments believe are illegal.

Words in This Story

ascertain – v. to learn or find out (something, such as information or the truth)

mobile – adj. cell phone; smart phone

journalist – n. reporter; a person who collects, writes and edits news stories for newspapers, magazines, television, radio or the internet

app – n. a computer program that performs a special function, especially on a smartphone

inevitable – adj. sure to happen

1 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

3 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。

4 ascertain   

vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清

参考例句：

• It's difficult to ascertain the coal deposits.煤储量很难探明。
• We must ascertain the responsibility in light of different situtations.我们必须根据不同情况判定责任。

5 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

6 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

7 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。