时间:2019-01-03 作者:英语课 分类:2018年VOA慢速英语(八)月


英语课

Social Media Ban Radio Host Alex Jones for Hate Speech


In the U.S. this week, a number of technology companies banned controversial 1 radio host Alex Jones from using their services. The companies say Jones violated 2 their policies against hate speech. But Jones and his supporters claim the companies are violating 3 his right to free speech.


The conflict between Jones and the social media companies raises an issue that others have long been discussing: Are social media services such as Facebook and YouTube public places where anybody can say anything? Or are they more like private television stations and newspapers, which control their content?


Who is Alex Jones?


Jones has a radio show called “The Alex Jones Show” and a website called “Infowars.” He has claimed that officials in the U.S. government helped carry out the terrorist 4 attacks on September 11, 2001, and that the 2012 shooting of 20 children and 6 adults at Sandy Hook 5 Elementary School did not really happen.


The website Vox reports that as many as 10 million people visit Infowars every month, and 17 million people looked at his YouTube channel in the past 30 days.


Critics of Jones and his media say he gives his audience wrong information and promotes stories that lead to violence. They have objected to his descriptions of Muslims, transgender people, Jews and other groups.


Several people have brought lawsuits 6 against him, including parents of a child who was killed at Sandy Hook. They and others say they have suffered threats and pressure because of Jones.


So what should technology companies do?


In recent months, technology companies have struggled to draw a line about what content they will and will not accept. Facebook especially has made efforts to prevent people from creating accounts for people who do not exist, or from sharing information they know is wrong.


In the case of Alex Jones, Facebook did not say misleading information was the reason they banned the radio host. Instead, it said Jones’ words on Infowars used “dehumanizing language” and violated their rules against promoting violence and hate.


Apple reportedly removed five of Infowars’ six podcasts from iTunes for violating hate speech. The company told the Associated Press that it “does not tolerate 7 hate speech” but did not name Jones or comment further.


Free speech versus 8 hate speech


Jones and his supporters have pushed back against the ban, saying the First Amendment 9 of the U.S. Constitution protects his right to free speech. He warns against censorship, saying that technology companies and critics want to silence him because they do not like his point of view.


Even those who do not like Jones’ ideas ask where the ban against him will lead. The president of the Media Research Center, Brent Bozell, wrote, “We are rapidly approaching a point where censorship of opposing voices is the norm 10. That’s dangerous.”


But others have pushed back against Jones’ claim of First Amendment protection. A Muslim-American writer, Rafia Zakaria, says Jones’ words are a kind of domestic 11 terrorism and should be outlawed 12, just as support for international terrorism is.


Some First Amendment scholars make a different argument. They say laws have always restricted 13 some speech, especially when it unfairly damages others. They say media figures cannot call their stories “opinion” and avoid responsibility for them.


Another observer 14 offers yet a different idea. Media historian 15 Brian Rosewald points out that technology companies are businesses, and they do not want to risk losing money because of someone the audience or advertisers do not like.


I’m Jonathan Evans.


Words in This Story


controversial - adj. causing much discussion 16, disagreement, or argument


content - n. the ideas, facts, or images in a book, movies, aricles, websites...


audience - n. the people who watch, read or listen to something


promote - v. to help something happen, develop or increase


transgender - adj. of or relating to people who feel that their true nature does not match their sex at birth


misleading - adj. something that is not true


tolerate - v. to accept the feelings, behavior, or beliefs of someone


censorship - n. the system or practice examining and removing content


the norm - n. something that is usual or expected



adj.引起争论的,有争议的
  • The topic of argument is controversial.这个议题是很有争议的。
  • Immigration is a controversial issue in many countries.在很多国家,移民都是一个颇有争议的问题。
亵渎( violate的过去式和过去分词 ); 违反; 侵犯; 强奸
  • Note that thick, strong angles of tibia are not violated. 注意肥厚、结实的胫骨成角部分未受损坏。
  • The soldiers violated the church by using it as a stable. 士兵们把教堂当马厩,亵渎了教堂。
亵渎( violate的现在分词 ); 违反; 侵犯; 强奸
  • Ignorance of a law does not excuse a man for violating it. 一个人不懂法律不构成犯法的理由。
  • It was sued by the U.S. federal government for violating antitrust law. 它被美国联邦政府指控违反了反托拉斯法。
n.恐怖主义者,恐怖分子
  • Without the gun,I'm a sitting duck for any terrorist.没有这支枪,我就成了恐怖分子下手的目标了。
  • The district was put on red alert during a terrorist's bomb scare.这个地区在得到恐怖分子炸弹恐吓后作了应急准备。
vt.钩住;n.钩子,钩状物
  • The blacksmith forged a bar of iron into a hook.铁匠把一根铁条锻造成一个钩子。
  • He hangs up his scarf on the hook behind the door.他把围巾挂在门后的衣钩上。
n.诉讼( lawsuit的名词复数 )
  • 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
v.忍受,容忍,容许,宽恕;vt.容忍,忍受,容许
  • She can tolerate that rude fellow.她能容忍那个粗鲁的家伙。
  • The teacher cannot tolerate eating on the class.老师不容许在课堂上吃东西。
prep.以…为对手,对;与…相比之下
  • The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
  • The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。
n.改正,修正,改善,修正案
  • The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
  • The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。
n.标准,规范,平均数
  • Of his age,the child is above the norm in arithmetic.在他那个年龄,这个孩子的算术能力是超过标准的。
  • These events were aberrations from the norm.这些事件不合常规。
adj.家里的,国内的,本国的;n.家仆,佣人
  • This is domestic news.这是国内新闻。
  • She does the domestic affairs every day.她每天都忙家务。
宣布…为不合法(outlaw的过去式与过去分词形式)
  • Most states have outlawed the use of marijuana. 大多数州都宣布使用大麻为非法行为。
  • I hope the sale of tobacco will be outlawed someday. 我希望有朝一日烟草制品会禁止销售。
adj.有限的;受约束的
  • Speed is restricted to 30 mph in towns. 在城里车速不得超过每小时30英里。
  • a restricted range of foods 有限的食物种类
n.观察家,观察的人,观察员
  • I can see you're a careful reader as well as a careful observer.我能看出你既是一位细心的读者,又是一位观察者。
  • I want to attend the conference only as an observer.本人只作为观察员身份参加会议。
n.历史学家,编史家
  • As a historian,he was most typical of the times in which he lived.作为历史学家,他是他所处时代最有代表性的人物。
  • He calls himself a historian,but his books are a mere journalism.他自称为历史学家,但是他的书都是些肤浅的通俗作品。
n.讨论,谈论;论述
  • It is certain he will come to the discussion.他肯定会来参加讨论。
  • After months of discussion,a peace agreement is gradually taking shape.经过几个月的商讨,和平协议渐渐有了眉目。
学英语单词
alkons
Altichiero
anchorage block
andaluz
anti management
artists primaries
automatic data digitalizing system
axial surface
Baco, Mt.
bacterial discolouration
bacterotropin
barograph trace
bartholet
bedright
blow-down drum
c-phone
carrier buffer
changeable message sign
class act
climb down
colombire
cumulative provisions
Deiters cell
delivery of assistance
domesday
doubly clad optical fibre
elector's certificate
extramutochondrial
fairness and justice
Fernworthy
fiber cement
flexible sprocket-wheel pulverizer
fob railroad cars
framed soap
genus sagittariuss
groundrent
GV (governor valve)
haser
have a memory like a sieve
Hefke-Turner sign
horizontal continuous rotary cooker
Houghers
hydraulic control rod drive system
immediate character
just right
Kavīr Kūshk
kirkward
Koeppe nodules
labeur
ladder winch
Little Dipper
lower labial frenum
matalikko
Mayer process
microsetella norvegica
multivalued logic simulation
mussaul
nanoassemblers
next night
nitched
nonmarketable
olavides
ordure
paragymnopleurus melanarius
peroxy-nirtrate
proportional charges
Puccinia exhausta
quercypsittid
recrystallizatuon
red - hot poker
reference database
roentgenographic localization of unerupted tooth
Rubus cinclidodictyus
ruptive
sample current voltammetry
satinises
scarlet fly-cap(amanita muscaria l.)
scintillometers
scleradenitis
secure currency
siphon-recorder
slate roof
slow lanes
som tom
sonancy
spring loaded shedder
star reticle
strongylura leiura leiura
substation automation system
subtenolin
subvolumes
switching control pilot
system standard format sequential file
telegraph operater
tertiary triangulation
thebainone
time-constant
turbulent skin-friction coefficient
universal evolution criterion
unpurchased
untitled
water lubricating