Egyptians Gain a Voice With Social Media Service Used by Sta

This is the VOA Special English Technology Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语科技报道。

Egypt's government faced international criticism when it blocked Internet service to try to suppress the uprising there. But Egyptian activists 1 found other ways to get their message out.

当埃及政府封锁互联网试图压制暴动时，遭到了国际社会的批评。但埃及的活动分子找到了向外界传递信息的其他途径。

Google, Twitter and a company called SayNow launched a service last week called speak2tweet. They wanted to give Egyptians a way to communicate with the outside world.

Google, Twitter和一家名为SayNow的公司上周联合推出了一项名为speak2tweet的服务。他们想要给埃及人提供一个与外界沟通的途径。

The phone numbers are listed on that page, and people can also call them to hear the tweets.

该服务的网页上列明了电话号码，人们也可以拨打该电话收听推特信息（Tweets）。

Ujjwal Singh and AbdelKarim Mardini launched SayNow as an American-based company in two thousand five. Thousands of celebrities 2 use the service to connect with their fans. Google purchased SayNow at the end of January, just days before teaming with Twitter to create the new speak2tweet service.

辛格（Ujjwal Singh）和马尔迪尼（AbdelKarim Mardini）于2005年创办了SayNow这家美国公司。成千上万的名人通过该服务与粉丝联系。今年一月底，Google收购了该公司，并在数天前与Twitter联手推出了新的speak2tweet服务。

Most of the calls have come from inside Egypt and most are in Arabic.

大部分的电话来自埃及国内，并且大部分是阿拉伯语。

Volunteers are translating the messages into English, Spanish and French at the website Alive in Egypt.

在直播埃及（Alive in Egypt）网站上，志愿者将这些电话信息翻译成了英语、西班牙语和法语。

People are also showing their support for the protesters through pages on Facebook. Facebook says it has five million users in Egypt, including one million on mobile devices.

人们还通过Facebook的相关网页表达对示威者的支持。Facebook表示它在埃及有500万用户，包括100万基于移动设备的用户。

Social networks like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube also played a part in the protests that forced Tunisia's president from office last month.

Facebook, Twitter以及YouTube等社交网站在上月迫使突尼斯总统离职的示威活动中也发挥了作用。

Jillian York is with the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University. She says the use of social media has been different in the movements in Egypt and Tunisia.

吉利安·约克（Jillian York）在哈佛大学伯克曼互联网与社会中心工作。她表示，在埃及和突尼斯的运动中，社交媒体的应用有所不同。

Jillian York: "In Tunisia it was used mostly as a means to disseminate 3 information about what was happening on the ground, often to cover the gap where traditional media left off. In Egypt we've seen people using social media to organize.

纽约：“在突尼斯，它主要被用于传播当地资讯，往往用于弥补传统媒体留下的缺口。而在埃及，人们使用社交媒体来进行活动组织。”

Jillian York is also a member of the OpenNet Initiative, a group that studies Internet censorship and spying. She says the Egyptian shutdown had a much wider effect than past Internet bans in Nepal, Burma.

约克也是“开放互联网促进会”成员，这是一个研究互联网审查和监听的组织。她表示，埃及关闭互联网比过去尼泊尔、缅甸的互联网禁令影响更广泛。

JILLIAN YORK: "The Internet penetration 4 rate of those three places is fairly low. And I think Egypt's Internet community is about twenty times the size of those three places combined, and so this is the first time that something like this has had such a huge impact on Internet users."

约克：“尼泊尔等3个地方的互联网普及率相当低，而我认为埃及的互联网人群是那3个地区总和的近20倍。因此这是类似互联网禁令一类的措施首次对互联网用户产生如此巨大的影响。”

Internet service returned last Wednesday in Egypt after a five-day shutdown. Experts at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimated that the action cost Egypt's economy at least ninety million dollars.

在关闭5天后，互联网服务上周三重返埃及。经济合作与发展组织的专家估计，这次互联网关闭行动至少让埃及经济损失9000万美元。