年度政治謊言大全

The Lies Heard Round the World

年度政治謊言大全

DURHAM, N.C. — LYING may be an age-old part of politics, but it’s becoming easier to spot the fibs, fictions and falsehoods. A growing army of fact-checkers around the world is busy debunking falsehoods from presidents, prime ministers and pundits — and if their results are indicative, 2014 was a banner year. Some of the claims were so absurd that fact-checking groups honored them with awards, like Australia’s Golden Zombie and Italy’s Insane Whopper of the Year.

北卡羅來納州達勒姆——說謊或許在很早之前就是政治的一部分，但現(xiàn)在辨別假話、謊言和不實之辭已經(jīng)變得越來越容易。世界上的事實核查隊伍不斷壯大，他們在忙著揭穿個各國總統(tǒng)、總理及專家的謊言，如果他們的結果具有指示性，那2014年就是標志性的一年。其中一些謊言非?；闹?，事實核查小組給他們授予了獎項，比如澳大利亞的金僵尸獎(Golden Zombie)和意大利的年度彌天大謊獎(Insane Whopper of the Year)。

Such lies are fun to read, but identifying them is serious business: Misinformation, unchecked, can turn elections, undermine public health efforts and even lead countries into war.

這樣的謊言讀起來很有趣，但辨別謊言卻是一個嚴肅的事情：未經(jīng)核實的錯誤消息能夠改變選舉，破壞公共衛(wèi)生項目，甚至還會導致國家陷入戰(zhàn)爭。

Italy

意大利

“Nigeria, you can read about it on Wikipedia: 60 percent of its territory is controlled by Boko Haram, the remaining part is Ebola.”

“維基百科(Wikipedia)上說，尼日利亞60%的領土被博科哈拉姆(Boko Haram，舊譯博科圣地)控制，剩下的則是埃博拉疫情爆發(fā)區(qū)。”

This ridiculous claim, made by Alessandro Di Battista, vice president of the Committee on Foreign Relations in Italy’s Chamber of Deputies and a rising star in the Five Star Movement party, won the Insane Whopper of the Year award from the website Pagella Politica. Fact-checkers found that while the terrorist group Boko Haram has spread, it does not control a single Nigerian state, let alone 60 percent of the entire nation. And the number of Ebola cases in the country was tiny — just 20.

這一荒謬言論出自意大利眾議院(Chamber of Deputies)外交關系委員會副主席、五星運動黨(Five Star Movement)新星亞歷山德羅 ·迪巴蒂斯塔(Alessandro Di Battista)，因此Pagella Politica網(wǎng)站將年度彌天大謊獎授予了迪巴蒂斯塔。事實核查者發(fā)現(xiàn)，雖然恐怖組織博科哈拉姆不斷擴展控制范圍，但它沒有控制任何一個州，更不用說 60%的國土。該國的埃博拉病例也很少——只有20例。

Europe

歐洲

“The E.U. wants to ban double-slot toasters.”

“歐盟想要禁用雙槽烤面包機。”

This claim about the overreach of the European Union came from newspapers in Italy and Britain. The Daily Express said: “The British way of life is under fresh threat from the E.U. as it targets the nation’s kettles, toasters and even lawn mowers.” FactCheckEU, a watchdog group, dug into the details and found no plans to ban toasters, only to improve their energy efficiency. It rated the claim “Rather Daft.”

這個有關歐盟(European Union)過分之舉的謊言出自意大利及英國的報紙?！睹咳湛靾蟆?Daily Express)報道稱，“英國的生活方式面臨歐盟帶來的新威脅，歐盟把英國的壺、烤面包機，甚至割草機當作目標。”監(jiān)察組織FactCheckEU深入研究細節(jié)，結果發(fā)現(xiàn)歐盟沒有禁用烤面包機的計劃，只是想要提高它們的能效。該組織認為這個謊言“相當愚蠢”。

Africa

非洲

Ebola is cured by eating kola nuts or bathing in warm, salty water.

吃可樂果、用加鹽的溫水泡澡可以治愈埃博拉。

The fact-checking group AfricaCheck included several claims about Ebola cures and other quackery in its “2014 in Review” compilation. Blogs and text messages in Nigeria had spread claims that a warm, salty bath would cure Ebola, while a newspaper spread rumors that eating kola nuts would stop the disease. AfricaCheck said, “The cures being touted online and in newspapers are little more than cruel and unethical hoaxes.”

事實核查組織AfricaCheck將幾個有關埃博拉治療方法及其他江湖醫(yī)術的謊言納入了他們匯編的《回顧2014》(2014 in Review)。在尼日利亞，博客和短信息中流傳這樣一個說法，即用加鹽的溫水泡澡能治療埃博拉，而一家報紙則傳播謠言稱，吃可樂果可以治愈該疾病。 AfricaCheck稱，“網(wǎng)上和報紙吹捧的這些治療方法基本上就是一種殘酷、不道德的惡作劇。”

Australia

澳大利亞

“Over six years, Labor ran up a $667 billion debt.”

“在過去六年中，工黨積欠了6670億美元(約合4.18萬億元人民幣)的債務。”

This statement won ABC Fact Check’s Golden Zombie, which the Australian Broadcasting Corporation gives to the year’s most persistent falsehood that, “despite being killed off by fact-checkers, lurches back to life.” The claim was made by Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who accused the previous ruling party of leaving the country drowning in red ink. But the fact-checking group found that that statement relied on some misleading math: It is a 10-year projection from 2013 that even includes debt already on the books when Labor took over.

這一謊言獲得了澳大利亞廣播公司(Australian Broadcasting Corporation，簡稱ABC)真相核查(Fact Check)團隊授予的金僵尸獎，ABC通常會將這個獎項給予本年度最具活力的謊言，“這種謊言盡管已被真相核查者揭穿，但仍會死灰復燃。”該言論出自澳大利亞總理托尼·阿博特(Tony Abbott)，阿博特指責前執(zhí)政黨導致澳大利亞陷入赤字。但該事實核查小組發(fā)現(xiàn)，這個說法源于一些頗具誤導性的數(shù)學運算：這是對2013年之后十年的債務的估算，其中甚至包括工黨執(zhí)政之前已經(jīng)存在的債務。

United States

美國

Exaggerations about Ebola

有關埃博拉的夸大之詞

Rather than name a single falsehood, PolitiFact (which one of us, Bill Adair, founded) honored the many falsehoods and exaggerations about Ebola, including the claim by the columnist George F. Will that the disease can be spread by sneezing or coughing (false), the claim by Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, that Ebola is “incredibly contagious” (mostly false), and a Georgia congressman’s statement that there were reports of people carrying Ebola across the southern border of the United States (so ridiculously wrong we rated it “Pants on Fire” — not remotely true).

政治事實(PolitiFact，由本文作者之一比爾·阿代爾[Bill Adair]創(chuàng)立)則不只挑出了一個謊言，而是將榮譽授予很多關于埃博拉的謊言和夸大之詞，比如專欄作家喬治·F·威爾(George F. Will)所說的，埃博拉會通過打噴嚏或咳嗽傳染(錯誤)，肯塔基州共和黨參議員蘭德·保羅(Rand Paul)說的，埃博拉具有“高度傳染性”(基本上是錯誤的)，佐治亞州一名國會眾議員說的，有報道稱埃博拉病毒攜帶者跨越了美國的南部邊境(極其荒謬，我們將其評為“徹頭徹尾之謊言”——與真相差太遠)。

United States

美國

That Evan Jenkins, a Republican running for a House seat in West Virginia, vowed to repeal black lung benefits.

在西佛吉尼亞州競選眾議院席位的共和黨人埃文·詹金斯(Evan Jenkins)誓言要廢除塵肺病福利。

FactCheck.org said this claim, from a liberal super PAC, was a common tactic used by Democrats in congressional campaigns — asserting that a Republican’s support for repealing the Affordable Care Act meant that he also opposed every provision of the law.

FactCheck.org網(wǎng)站表示，這種來自一個自由派“超級政治行動委員會”(super PAC，簡稱“超級PAC”)的說法是民主黨人在國會競選中的慣用策略——認為只要一名共和黨人支持廢除《合理醫(yī)療費用法案》(Affordable Care Act)，就意味著此人同樣反對該法案的每個條款。

In this case, the repeal of the act would not “repeal black lung benefits.” It would have changed the eligibility requirements for people suffering from black lung disease, not ended the program. In fact, Mr. Jenkins said he supported those benefits.

在這個案例中，廢除法案并不會“廢除塵肺病福利”。它只會針對塵肺病患者改變領取這項福利的資格標準，而非終止這個項目。實際上，詹金斯曾表示，自己支持這些福利。

Uruguay

烏拉圭

“Today Uruguay is the first country in Latin America without overcrowding in prisons.”

“如今，烏拉圭是拉丁美洲第一個監(jiān)獄里不人滿為患的國家。”

The readers of the website UYCheck chose this claim by Lucía Topolansky, a senator and the wife of President José Mujica, as its lie of the year.

網(wǎng)站UYCheck的讀者把這個來自烏拉圭總統(tǒng)何塞·穆?？?José Mujica)的妻子、參議員露西亞·托波蘭斯基(Lucía Topolansky)的說法選做了網(wǎng)站的年度謊言。

UYCheck found that there had been some reduction of prison populations, but that the country had a long way to go before it could eliminate “overcrowding.”

UYCheck發(fā)現(xiàn)，雖然監(jiān)獄人口在一定程度上減少了，但烏拉圭距離消除“人滿為患”還有很長一段路要走。

United States

美國

Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, “did meet with ISIS, and had his picture taken, and didn’t know it was happening at the time.”

亞利桑那州共和黨參議員約翰·麥凱恩(John McCain)“確實與ISIS見了面，并被拍了照，但他當時并不了解情況”。

Senator Paul, a possible 2016 Republican presidential candidate, repeated this Internet rumor during a September interview with The Daily Beast. But the photo actually showed Mr. McCain with members of the Free Syrian Army, an enemy of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS. Glenn Kessler, who writes The Washington Post’s Fact Checker column, gave the claim four Pinocchios, his worst rating.

參議員保羅可能會成為2016年的共和黨總統(tǒng)候選人。9月，他在接受《每日野獸》(The Daily Beast)采訪時再次提到了這個網(wǎng)絡謠言。但是，照片顯示的其實是麥凱恩與敘利亞自由軍(Free Syrian Army)成員在一起。敘利亞自由軍是伊斯蘭國(亦稱ISIS)的敵人。為《華盛頓郵報》(The Washington Post)撰寫“事實核查”專欄(Fact Checker)的格倫·凱斯勒(Glenn Kessler)給了這個說法四個“匹諾曹”(他用這個指數(shù)衡量謊言——譯注)，這是他給出的最糟評價。