China’s leading microblog is developing systems to simplify the control of content and make the wildly popular social media tool less of a risk to social stability, its chief executive has said.

　　中國領先微博服務商的首席執(zhí)行官透露，公司正在開發(fā)相關系統(tǒng)，以簡化內(nèi)容管控，降低這個極具人氣的社交媒體工具對社會穩(wěn)定構成的風險。

　　“Over the past two to three months, we have been looking into how to establish a trust system,” said Charles Chao, chief executive of Sina Corp which runs Sina Weibo, the country’s most active microblog. He cited the way vendors on e-commerce websites get rated by their customers as a potential model.

　　新浪(Sina)首席執(zhí)行官曹國偉(Charles Chao)表示：“新浪在過去的幾個月里，也在著力地研究，想形成一套在微博體系上的信用體系。”新浪微博是中國最活躍的微博。曹國偉提到，可能會借鑒電子商務網(wǎng)站由買家給賣家評分的做法。

　　Mr Chao’s unusually forthright remarks confirm that tighter regulation is on the cards for China’s microblogs following a series of incidents where the outlets became forums for fierce criticism of the government.

　　曹國偉異乎尋常的率直言論證實了一點：在連續(xù)發(fā)生數(shù)起事件使微博成為民眾激烈批評政府的平臺后，中國的微博可能面臨更加嚴格的監(jiān)管。

　　After a high-speed rail crash which killed 40 people in July, live witness reports and comments from the crash site via Weibo repeatedly forced the authorities to adjust their handling of the accident, including the rescue effort and compensation of victims’ families.

　　7月份發(fā)生一起導致40人死亡的動車事故后，新浪微博(Weibo)上發(fā)自撞車現(xiàn)場的目擊報道和評論多次迫使當局調(diào)整其事故處理方式，包括救援措施和對遇難者家庭的補償。

　　Last month, Weibo was used to organise a large-scale demonstration in the northeastern city of Dalian against a toxic petrochemical plant, which subsequently forced the authorities to promise a relocation of the factory.

　　上月，大連市民通過新浪微博組織了一次大規(guī)模示威活動，抗議一座有毒的化工廠，最終迫使當局承諾遷移該工廠。

　　Earlier this month, the 15-year-old son of an army general attacked a couple after a traffic dispute, and threatened bystanders not to call the police. Spread nationwide via Weibo, news of the incident triggered outrage over the arrogance of the country’s wealthy and powerful, and the young man was swiftly arrested, tried and sentenced last week to a year in a juvenile correctional facility.

　　本月早些時候，一位少將的15歲兒子因交通糾紛毆打一對夫婦，并警告旁觀者不許報警。該消息通過新浪微博傳遍全國，激起民眾對權貴之驕狂的憤慨。這位年輕人旋即被逮捕歸案，并于上周被判處收容教養(yǎng)1年。

　　Such incidents have fuelled debate within the authorities over how to regulate the microblogs, with one camp demonising them as a forum for evil rumours and another stressing their beneficial functions in promoting transparency.

　　這些事件在當局內(nèi)部引發(fā)了關于如何管理微博的爭論，一個陣營把微博妖魔化，斥之為滋生惡意謠言的平臺，另一陣營則強調(diào)微博在提高透明度方面的有益作用。

　　Zhan Jiang, a journalism professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said efforts by Wen Jiabao, China’s premier, to push transparency and information disclosure within the government had produced a certain momentum that could not easily be undone by more conservative forces, such as the Communist party propaganda apparatus.

　　北京外國語大學新聞學教授展江表示，溫家寶總理在政府內(nèi)部推動信息公開、透明的努力已經(jīng)形成了一定勢頭，不會輕易被中共宣傳部門等保守勢力瓦解。

　　Still, Mr Chao said the microblogs posed a “very serious challenge” for the government’s efforts to filter information and control society, and that many rumours spread through the services created “huge damage” to individuals and to the government.

　　不過曹國偉也表示，微博對政府過濾信息和控制社會的努力構成了“非常大的挑戰(zhàn)”，很多通過微博散播的謠言對個人、對政府都造成了“巨大的傷害和損失”。

　　“We will hand out different degrees of punishment to those who spread malicious rumours,” Mr Chao said, adding that the more prominent and widely respected microbloggers could act as a moderating force within the blogosphere, if complemented by a more reliable regulatory regime.

　　“對惡意的造謠者我們會有不同的懲罰措施。”曹國偉還補充道，知名、廣受尊敬的微博主可以作為微博圈內(nèi)的一支自我調(diào)解力量，同時還應實施一套更加可靠的監(jiān)管機制。

　　Analysts see Sina’s moves as the clearest sign yet that pressure on the operators is rising. But most play down fears of a shutdown of the microblogs, and two years after the start of Sina’s microblog, the regulatory regime for this segment is maturing.

　　分析師認為，新浪這些舉措是迄今最清晰的信號，表明微博運營商面臨的壓力正在上升。不過大多數(shù)人都認為微博不會被關閉，而在新浪微博運營兩年后，相關監(jiān)管機制也日趨成熟。

　　“I think it’s impossible that [the authorities will] shut down the microblogs,” said Mr Zhan.

　　展江表示：“我不認為（當局）會關閉微博。”

　　Most industry experts agree that there is a broad consensus within the authorities that the net effect of allowing the internet to grow is positive to the regime and to the country.

　　大多數(shù)行業(yè)分析師都一致認為，當局內(nèi)部存在一種廣泛的共識，認為允許互聯(lián)網(wǎng)發(fā)展對體制和國家具有正面的凈效應。

　　“We have found a Chinese way of having news portals and blogs, and we will find a Chinese way of having microblogs,” said a Communist party propaganda official.

　　一位宣傳官員表示：“我們已經(jīng)找到一種有中國特色的新聞門戶網(wǎng)站和博客運營方式，對于微博，我們也會找到一種有中國特色的解決之路。”

　　Part of this solution with Chinese characteristics is that Twitter is blocked in China and those microblogs that are allowed are operated by companies that have long proved their willingness to help the authorities filter content and tame users.

　　這套具有中國特色的解決方案的內(nèi)容之一就是，推特(Twitter)在中國遭到封鎖，而獲準開通的微博都隸屬長期以來已證明愿意協(xié)助當局過濾內(nèi)容和管控用戶的運營商。

　　Since central, provincial and local authorities share responsibility for internet monitoring with the private companies that host content, microblog censorship has been as inconsistent as that of other parts of the internet.

　　由于中央、省和地方各級政府與提供內(nèi)容的民企共同承擔互聯(lián)網(wǎng)監(jiān)控責任，微博審查與針對互聯(lián)網(wǎng)其它領域的審查一樣時緊時松。

　　But overall, controls are tightening, says Cheng Yizhong, founder and former editor-in-chief of Southern Metropolis Daily and one of China’s most respected journalists. In a famous microblog post earlier this year he ridiculed social inequality and curbs on freedom of speech.

　　不過，《南方都市報》創(chuàng)始人及前總編、中國最受尊敬的新聞工作者之一程益中表示，總體而言，對微博的控制正在加強。在今年早些時候發(fā)布的一條著名微博中，程益中對社會不平等和限制言論自由的現(xiàn)象進行了嘲諷。

　　Apart from regularly having his posts erased, he recently found that his posts were delayed, remained hidden from other Weibo users unless searched explicitly, and that some other Weibo users were stopped from following him.

　　除了發(fā)布的微博會定期被刪除以外，程益中最近發(fā)現(xiàn)，他的微博會被延遲發(fā)布，而其他微博用戶除非進行明確搜索，否則看不到他的微博，有些用戶對他的關注甚至被無故取消。