如何抑制科技的陰暗面？

We thought technology products would always be a force for good. We were lured by their convenience and ease-of-use; by the idea of free access to everything and everyone. We did not see the dark side — until it was too late. By then we were already addicted, with horrific consequences for public health, democracy and the economy.

我們曾認為科技產(chǎn)品永遠是向善的力量。我們被它們的便利性和易用性所吸引;被其自由連通一切事物和每個人的理念所吸引。我們沒看到它們的陰暗面——直到為時晚矣。那時我們已經(jīng)無法自拔，這在公共健康、民主和經(jīng)濟方面造成了可怕后果。

Smartphones are incredibly valuable, but the apps delivered on them are the technological equivalent of sugar: easy to consume to excess. Internet platforms apply the techniques of propaganda or gambling to trigger emotional responses over which users have little or no control. Technology companies are running an uncontrolled psychological experiment on billions of people. In a perfect world, the makers of smartphones and apps would recognise the harm they have caused and take remedial action. With only a few small exceptions, they have not done so.

智能手機有巨大價值，但手機上安裝的應用就像是科技中的甜食：容易讓人貪嘴?；ヂ?lián)網(wǎng)平臺把宣傳或賭博的技巧用于觸發(fā)情緒反應——而用戶對這些反應幾乎無法自控?？萍脊菊趯?shù)十億人進行一場不受管控的心理實驗。在理想的世界中，智能手機制造商和應用開發(fā)者將認識到它們造成的危害并采取補救措施。在現(xiàn)實中，只有極個別的制造商和開發(fā)者這樣做了。

In the pursuit of profit, internet platforms are mounting an assault on the minds of children. Governments, educators and parents must step up to address this crisis. Advertising-supported platforms should be regulated in the same way as alcohol and tobacco, with age restrictions and warning labels.

為了逐利，互聯(lián)網(wǎng)平臺正在對兒童的思想發(fā)起一場攻擊。各國政府、教育工作者和家長必須加緊應對這場危機?？繌V告支撐的平臺應該像酒精和香煙一樣接受監(jiān)管，設置年齡限制和警告標簽。

YouTube Kids has become a wasteland of age-inappropriate videos, stimulating children in ways that make the real world seem boring. While Google has removed huge amounts of age-inappropriate content from YouTube Kids, it has not taken adequate precautions to prevent the posting of such content. YouTube has also become the place for recruiting and training extremists.

YouTube兒童頻道(YouTube Kids)充斥著各種少兒不宜的視頻，在這些視頻的刺激下，現(xiàn)實世界就顯得平淡乏味了。盡管谷歌(Google)從YouTube兒童頻道中刪除了大量少兒不宜的內(nèi)容，但它并沒有采取足夠的預防措施來阻止此類內(nèi)容的發(fā)布。YouTube也成了招募和訓練極端分子的地方。

Facebook recently introduced Messenger Kids, a texting service whose primary function seems to be to train children for a life lived within its product eco-system. For adolescents, Instagram has become a weapon for psychological bullying.

Facebook最近推出了兒童版短訊服務Messenger Kids，其主要功能似乎是培養(yǎng)兒童適應在其產(chǎn)品生態(tài)系統(tǒng)中生活。對青少年來說，Instagram已經(jīng)成了精神霸凌的武器。

Advertisers themselves are starting to recognise the problem and some are taking action. This week Unilever announced it would withdraw ads from platforms that “create division in society, and promote anger or hate”. Platforms such as Google and Facebook must take steps to “protect our children” the company said.

廣告商自己已經(jīng)開始認識到這個問題，一些廣告商正在采取行動。不久前，聯(lián)合利華(Unilever)宣布將停止在那些“造成社會分裂，擴散憤怒或仇恨”的平臺上投放廣告。該公司表示，谷歌和Facebook等平臺必須采取措施“保護我們的孩子”。

Western democracies need a co-ordinated response to the manipulation of their populations by hostile powers. Facebook alone is used by more than 2bn people.

西方民主國家需要協(xié)調(diào)行動，共同應對敵對勢力操縱其民眾的行為。僅Facebook的用戶就超過了20億。

In a world of limitless access to information, disinformation is spreading rapidly. Google’s search results can be gamed with conspiracy theories and nonsense. Facebook exploits its users’ fear and anger to such a degree that many are vulnerable to manipulation by those who exploit its algorithms and architecture to undermine democracy and harm the powerless.

在信息獲取不受限制的世界，虛假信息正在迅速傳播。谷歌的搜索結(jié)果可能被陰謀論和無稽之談污染。Facebook對用戶的恐懼和憤怒的利用達到那樣一種地步，以至于利用Facebook的算法和架構來破壞民主制度和傷害弱勢者的人們很容易操縱許多Facebook用戶。

The crisis we face today is the result of bad incentives created by advertising business models, poor judgment by the executives in charge and ineffective regulation.

我們?nèi)缃衩媾R的危機是由如下幾點造成的：廣告商業(yè)模式造成的不當激勵、主管高管糟糕的判斷力以及監(jiān)管不力。

About one-third of the world’s population owns a smartphone, and many owners check their phones a frightening number of times a day, often from the moment they wake until the moment they go to bed.

全世界約三分之一的人都擁有智能手機，很多人每天查看手機的次數(shù)令人瞠目結(jié)舌——他們醒來第一件事和睡覺前最后一件事往往就是查看手機。

Not all users of internet platforms are addicted, but the 1.3bn people who use Facebook every day are psychologically attached to it to a degree. Even if they could break the attachment, those users are at the mercy of big corporations whose data archives rival those of the best intelligence services, and whose terms of service confer no meaningful rights to the owners of that data.

并非所有互聯(lián)網(wǎng)平臺的用戶都會上癮，但每天使用Facebook的13億人對Facebook的心理依賴達到了一定程度。即使他們能夠破除這種依賴，他們在那些大公司面前也毫無反抗之力——這些大公司掌握的存檔數(shù)據(jù)堪比最出色的情報機構，而且其服務條款并未賦予這些數(shù)據(jù)的所有者任何有實際意義的權利。

Big Tech companies insist they should be allowed to regulate themselves. Unfortunately, their record on this point is dreadful. For example, the response of Facebook, Google, and Twitter to evidence of interference on elections has been to deny, delay, and dissemble. Their proposed “fixes” have been inadequate.

大型科技公司堅持稱，他們應該獲準自我管理。遺憾的是，他們在這方面的過往記錄不佳。例如，F(xiàn)acebook、谷歌和Twitter對于干涉大選的證據(jù)的反應是否認、拖延、以及掩飾。他們提出的“解決方案”不足以解決問題。

Facebook and Google have grown so large and powerful that new approaches to regulation may be required. The EU’s Global Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is an important step in the right direction, particularly with respect to privacy and data rights. Unfortunately, the EU’s enforcement mechanisms will need an upgrade if they are to deliver on the promise of GDPR.

Facebook和谷歌已經(jīng)變得太過龐大和強大，可能需要采取新的監(jiān)管方式。歐盟出臺的《一般數(shù)據(jù)保護條例》(GDPR)是向正確方向邁出的重要一步，特別是在隱私和數(shù)據(jù)權利方面。遺憾的是，如果歐盟想兌現(xiàn)GDPR的承諾，他們需要升級自己的執(zhí)法機制。

Restoring privacy and data rights in the EU would be a huge step forward, but there needs to be many more steps. We need to repair democracies in western Europe and North America. We need to protect children from technology that stunts their emotional development. We need to protect adults from interruptions by endless notifications and apps that compete with their sleep. We need to protect economies from the monopolistic behaviour of internet platforms, which has already produced lower rates of innovation and start-up formation.

在歐盟區(qū)域內(nèi)恢復隱私和數(shù)據(jù)權利將是向前邁出的一大步，但還需要采取更多措施。我們需要修復西歐和北美的民主制度。我們需要保護兒童遠離那些阻礙他們情感發(fā)育的科技。我們需要保護成年人免受沒完沒了的通知和剝奪睡眠時間的應用打擾。我們需要讓經(jīng)濟不受互聯(lián)網(wǎng)平臺壟斷行為的影響。這些平臺已經(jīng)造成了更低的創(chuàng)新率和創(chuàng)業(yè)率。

Unlike a year ago, the threat from the internet platform companies is a topic of conversation across the developed world. The next step is to convert talk into action.

與一年前不同，如今來自互聯(lián)網(wǎng)平臺公司的威脅已經(jīng)成為整個發(fā)達世界熱議的話題。下一步是把討論轉(zhuǎn)化為行動。

The writer is a venture capitalist and was an early investor in Facebook and Google

本文作者是一名風險投資家，曾是Facebook和谷歌的早期投資人