印度4億社交媒體用戶將失去匿名性

印度4億社交媒體用戶將失去匿名性

The advent of new rules for social media applications - like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp - could spell the end for privacy in the Indian internet space. Despite push back from major internet companies, the Indian government is all set to go ahead with the new regulations. The rules are a bid to quell the spread of fake news and trace anti-social elements in the Indian internet ecosystem faster.

針對社交媒體應用(如Instagram、Twitter、Facebook和WhatsApp)的新規(guī)則的出臺，可能意味著印度互聯(lián)網(wǎng)空間隱私的終結(jié)。盡管遭到主要互聯(lián)網(wǎng)公司的抵制，印度政府仍將繼續(xù)實施新規(guī)定。這些規(guī)定是為了平息假新聞的傳播，并更快地追蹤印度互聯(lián)網(wǎng)生態(tài)系統(tǒng)中的反社會因素。

Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and TikTok will have to reveal users’ identities if Indian government agencies ask them to, according to the country’s controversial new rules for social media companies and messaging apps expected to be published later this month.

根據(jù)印度針對社交媒體公司和即時通訊應用有爭議的新規(guī)定，如果印度政府機構(gòu)提出要求，F(xiàn)acebook、YouTube、Twitter和TikTok將不得不披露用戶身份。該規(guī)定預計將于本月晚些時候發(fā)布。

The requirement comes as governments around the world are trying to hold social media companies more accountable for the content that circulates on their platforms, whether it’s fake news, child porn, racist invective or terrorism-related content. India’s new guidelines go further than most other countries’ by requiring blanket cooperation with government inquiries, no warrant or judicial order required.

這一要求出臺之際，世界各國政府正試圖讓社交媒體公司對其平臺上流傳的內(nèi)容承擔更多責任，無論是假新聞、兒童色情、種族主義辱罵還是與恐怖主義相關(guān)的內(nèi)容。印度的新指導方針比大多數(shù)其他國家的指導方針走得更遠，要求全面配合政府調(diào)查，不需要搜查令或司法命令。

India proposed these guidelines in December 2018 and asked for public comment. The Internet and Mobile Association of India, a trade group that counts Facebook Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google among its members, responded that the requirements “would be a violation of the right to privacy recognized by the SupremeCourt.”

印度于2018年12月提出這些指導方針，并征求公眾意見。印度互聯(lián)網(wǎng)和移動協(xié)會是一個行業(yè)組織，其成員包括Facebook Inc.、Amazon.com Inc.、Alphabet Inc.的谷歌在其成員中回應說，這些要求“將侵犯最高法院承認的隱私權(quán)”。

But the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is expected to publish the new rules later this month without major changes, according to a government official familiar with the matter.

但據(jù)一位知情政府官員透露，預計電子和信息技術(shù)部將在本月晚些時候公布新規(guī)，不會有重大變化。

“The guidelines for intermediaries are under process,” said N.N. Kaul, the media adviser to the minister of electronics & information technology. “We cannot comment on the guidelines or changes till they are published.”

電子與信息技術(shù)部長的媒體顧問n·n·考爾說，“針對中介機構(gòu)的指導方針正在制定中。”“在指導方針或修改公布之前，我們不能發(fā)表評論。”

The provisions in the earlier draft had required platforms such as Google’s YouTube or ByteDance Inc.’s TikTok, Facebook or its Instagram and WhatsApp apps, to help the government trace the origins of a post within 72 hours of a request.

早先草案中的條款要求谷歌的YouTube或ByteDance Inc.的TikTok、Facebook或其Instagram和WhatsApp應用程序等平臺在接到請求后72小時內(nèi)幫助政府追蹤帖子的來源。

The companies would also have to preserve their records for at least 180 days to aid government investigators, establish a brick-and-mortar operation within India and appoint both a grievance officer to deal with user complaints and a government liaison. The Ministry is still finalizing the language and content.

這些公司還必須將其記錄保存至少180天，以協(xié)助政府調(diào)查人員，在印度建立實體業(yè)務，并任命一名申訴官員處理用戶投訴和一名政府聯(lián)絡人。該部仍在最后敲定語言和內(nèi)容。

The rules cover all social media and messaging apps with more than 5 million users. India, with 1.3 billion people, has about 500 million internet users. It isn’t clear whether the identities of foreign users would be subject to the Indian government’s inquiries.

這些規(guī)定涵蓋了所有用戶超過500萬的社交媒體和即時通訊應用。印度擁有13億人口，約有5億互聯(lián)網(wǎng)用戶。目前還不清楚外國用戶的身份是否會受到印度政府的調(diào)查。

Law enforcement agencies around the world have been frustrated by tech companies that have refused to identify users, unlock devices or generally cooperate with government investigations, particularly in cases relating to terrorism.

世界各地的執(zhí)法機構(gòu)一直對科技公司感到沮喪，這些公司拒絕識別用戶身份、解鎖設備或總體上配合政府調(diào)查，特別是在與恐怖主義有關(guān)的案件中。

In India, where the internet - and fake news - are still a relatively new phenomenon, a false report of rampant child abduction and organ harvesting circulated widely via WhatsApp, leading to mob violence and over three dozen fatal lynchings in 2017 and 2018.

在印度，互聯(lián)網(wǎng)-和假新聞-仍然是一個相對較新的現(xiàn)象，一篇關(guān)于猖獗的綁架兒童和器官采集的虛假報道通過WhatsApp廣泛傳播，導致2017年和2018年發(fā)生暴徒暴力和30多起致命的私刑。

WhatsApp refused a request from the government to reveal the origins of the rumors, citing its promise of privacy and end-to-end encryption for its 400 million Indian users. It instead offered to fund research into preventing the spread of fake news and mounted a public education campaign in the country, its biggest global market.

WhatsApp拒絕了政府要求透露謠言來源的請求，理由是該公司承諾為其4億印度用戶提供隱私和端到端加密。取而代之的是，它為防止假新聞傳播的研究提供資助，并在其最大的全球市場中國發(fā)起了一場公共教育活動。

WhatsApp will “not compromise on security because that would make people less safe,” it said in a statement Wednesday, adding its global user base had reached over 2 billion.

WhatsApp周三在一份聲明中表示，“不會在安全問題上妥協(xié)，因為這會讓人們不那么安全”，并補充說，其全球用戶基礎(chǔ)已經(jīng)超過20億。

“For even more protection, we work with top security experts, employ industry leading technology to stop misuse as well as provide controls and ways to report issues — without sacrificing privacy.”

“為了提供更多的保護，我們與頂級安全專家合作，使用行業(yè)領(lǐng)先的技術(shù)來阻止濫用，并提供控制和報告問題的方法，同時不犧牲隱私。”

At the same time, tech companies and civil rights groups say the new rules are an invitation to abuse and censorship, as well as a burdensome requirement on new and growing companies.

與此同時，科技公司和民權(quán)組織表示，這些新規(guī)定會招致濫用和審查，同時也是對新公司和成長型公司的一項繁重要求。

In an open letter to India’s IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, executives from Mozilla Corp., GitHub Inc. and Cloudflare Inc. said the guidelines could lead to “automated censorship” and “increase surveillance.“ In order to be able to trace the originator of content, platforms would basically be required to surveil their users, undermine encryption, and harm the fundamental right to privacy of Indian users, they said.

Mozilla Corp.、GitHub Inc.和Cloudflare Inc.公司的高管在給印度信息技術(shù)部長拉維·尚卡爾·普拉薩德的一封公開信中說，這些指導方針可能會導致“自動審查”和“加強監(jiān)控”。他們說，為了能夠追蹤內(nèi)容的創(chuàng)建者，平臺基本上將被要求監(jiān)控其用戶，破壞加密，并損害印度用戶的基本隱私權(quán)。

Companies such as Mozilla or Wikipedia wouldn’t fall under the new rules, the government official said. Browsers, operating systems, and online repositories of knowledge, software development platforms, are all exempt. Only social media platforms and messaging apps will be covered.

這位政府官員說，Mozilla或維基百科等公司不會受到新規(guī)則的約束。瀏覽器、操作系統(tǒng)和在線知識庫、軟件開發(fā)平臺都不受此限制。只有社交媒體平臺和即時通訊應用程序?qū)⒈桓采w。