How fake news does real harm | Stephanie Busari

翻译人员: Wei Wu 校对人员: Hong Li

I want to tell you a story about a girl.

我想讲一个女孩子的故事。

But I can't tell you her real name.

但是我不能说出她的真名。

So let's just call her Hadiza.

就叫她哈迪扎好了。

Hadiza is 20.

哈迪扎今年20岁。

She's shy,

她很害羞，

but she has a beautiful smile that lights up her face.

但是笑起来很好看，活力四射。

But she's in constant pain.

但她生活在痛苦中。

And she will likely be on medication for the rest of her life.

她很可能需要终身药物治疗。

Do you want to know why?

你们想知道为什么吗？

Hadiza is a Chibok girl,

哈迪扎来自奇博克，

and on April 14, 2014, she was kidnapped

在2014年4月14日，

by Boko Haram terrorists.

她被“博科圣地”恐怖分子绑架。

She managed to escape, though,

不过，她成功逃过一劫，

by jumping off the truck that was carrying the girls.

跳下了载满女孩的卡车。

But when she landed, she broke both her legs,

但是她的腿在跳车时摔断了，

and she had to crawl on her tummy to hide in the bushes.

她不得不爬进灌木丛躲藏。

She told me she was terrified that Boko Haram would come back for her.

她告诉我，她当时吓坏了，害怕 “博科圣地”的人会回来抓她。

She was one of 57 girls who would escape by jumping off trucks that day.

那天跳车逃生的共有 57名女孩，她是其中之一。

This story, quite rightly, caused ripples

这个故事很快在全球范围内

around the world.

引起关注。

People like Michelle Obama, Malala and others

米歇尔·奥巴马、马拉拉等人

lent their voices in protest,

都加入声援，

and at about the same time -- I was living in London at the time --

与此同时——当时我住在伦敦——

I was sent from London to Abuja to cover the World Economic Forum

我被派到阿布贾去报道世界经济论坛，

that Nigeria was hosting for the first time.

那是（论坛）首次在尼日利亚举办。

But when we arrived, it was clear that there was only one story in town.

但在当时的阿布贾，很明显 （绑架案）才是大家唯一关心的事。

We put the government under pressure.

我们给政府施加了很大的压力。

We asked tough questions about what they were doing

问了很多尖锐的问题，询问他们

解救这些女孩子的进展。

to bring these girls back.

Understandably,

可以理解的是，

they weren't too happy with our line of questioning,

他们不太喜欢我们咄咄逼人的问题，

and let's just say we received our fair share of "alternative facts."

因此我们只得到了一些 “莫须有的事实”。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Influential Nigerians were telling us at the time

当时尼日利亚一些 有影响力的人告诉我们

that we were naïve,

我们太天真了，

we didn't understand the political situation in Nigeria.

根本不了解尼日利亚的政治局势。

But they also told us

但他们也告诉我们

that the story of the Chibok girls

奇博克女生绑架案

was a hoax.

是假的。

Sadly, this hoax narrative has persisted,

可悲的是，这个虚假的 版本依然流传着，

and there are still people in Nigeria today

直到今天还有很多尼日利亚人

who believe that the Chibok girls were never kidnapped.

认为奇博克女生绑架案没有发生过。

Yet I was talking to people like these --

但我的采访是真实的，

devastated parents,

我采访过那些绝望的父母，

who told us that on the day Boko Haram kidnapped their daughters,

他们告诉我，“博科圣地” 绑架了他们女儿的那天，

they ran into the Sambisa Forest after the trucks carrying their daughters.

他们追着卡车冲进了塞比萨森林。

They were armed with machetes, but they were forced to turn back

他们带着大砍刀，却被迫退了回来，

because Boko Haram had guns.

因为“博科圣地”的人拿着枪。

For two years, inevitably, the news agenda moved on,

2年过去了，不可避免的， 媒体的关注越来越少，

and for two years,

过去2年，

we didn't hear much about the Chibok girls.

我们已经很少听到 奇博克女学生的消息。

Everyone presumed they were dead.

所有人都推测她们已经死了。

But in April last year,

但是去年4月，

I was able to obtain this video.

我通过某种途径拿到了这个录像。

This is a still from the video

这是从录像中抽出的一幅画面，

that Boko Haram filmed as a proof of life,

“博科圣地”用录像证明她们还活着，

and through a source, I obtained this video.

通过某种渠道，我拿到了这份录像。

But before I could publish it,

但在我公开录像之前，

I had to travel to the northeast of Nigeria

我需要去尼日利亚的东北部，

to talk to the parents, to verify it.

去找女孩的父母， 确认（录像的）真实性。

I didn't have to wait too long for confirmation.

我几乎立刻得到了确认。

One of the mothers, when she watched the video, told me

其中一位母亲看到这段录像后

告诉我，她多么希望能够 把手伸进笔记本电脑

that if she could have reached into the laptop

and pulled our her child from the laptop,

把她的女儿从屏幕里拽出来，

she would have done so.

她一秒钟都不能等。

For those of you who are parents, like myself, in the audience,

在座的各位，如果你们像我一样， 已经为人父母，

you can only imagine the anguish

你大概就能想象到那位母亲

that that mother felt.

所承受的巨大痛苦。

This video would go on to kick-start negotiation talks with Boko Haram.

这段录像成为跟“博科圣地” 谈判的起点。

And a Nigerian senator told me that because of this video

一位尼日利亚议员告诉我， 正是因为这段录像，

they entered into those talks,

他们才开始进行谈判，

because they had long presumed that the Chibok girls were dead.

因为他们很久以前就已经推测 这些奇博克女生已经死了。

Twenty-one girls were freed in October last year.

去年10月，21名女生得以被释放。

Sadly, nearly 200 of them still remain missing.

不幸的是，仍有 约200名女生下落不明。

I must confess that I have not been a dispassionate observer

我必须承认，在报道这则 新闻的时候，我并不是个中立的

covering this story.

观察者。

I am furious when I think about the wasted opportunities

每当我想起那么多解救她们的机会 被白白浪费的时候，

to rescue these girls.

我就非常的愤怒。

I am furious when I think about what the parents have told me,

每当我想起那些女孩的父母告诉我， 如果她们的家庭

that if these were daughters of the rich and the powerful,

富有且有权势，那么肯定早就被 解救出来了的时候

they would have been found much earlier.

我就非常的愤怒。

And I am furious

我还愤怒于

that the hoax narrative,

那些假新闻，

I firmly believe,

我非常肯定，

caused a delay;

这些假新闻拖延了救援，

it was part of the reason for the delay in their return.

导致女生们没能早些回家。

This illustrates to me the deadly danger of fake news.

这让我看到了假新闻的致命危险性。

So what can we do about it?

那么我们能做什么？

There are some very smart people,

在谷歌和脸书有一群

smart engineers at Google and Facebook,

非常聪明的工程师，

who are trying to use technology to stop the spread of fake news.

努力用高科技手段 来阻止假新闻的传播。

But beyond that, I think everybody here -- you and I --

但除此之外，我相信在座的 每一位——包括你和我——

we have a role to play in that.

都有义务参与其中。

We are the ones who share the content.

我们是分享新闻的人。

We are the ones who share the stories online.

我们在网上传播报道。

In this day and age, we're all publishers,

在当今社会，我们都是出版者，

and we have responsibility.

我们都承担着责任。

In my job as a journalist,

作为一名记者，

I check, I verify.

我检查和确认（报道的）真实性。

I trust my gut, but I ask tough questions.

我相信直觉，也提出质疑。

Why is this person telling me this story?

为什么这个人要告诉我这个故事？

What do they have to gain by sharing this information?

他们分享这些信息的目的是什么？

Do they have a hidden agenda?

他们是否暗地里另有所图？

I really believe that we must all start to ask tougher questions

我真的认为，从现在开始， 对于从网上得到的信息，

of information that we discover online.

我们需要提出质疑。

Research shows that some of us don't even read beyond headlines

研究显示，我们中有些人 在转发一条新闻之前，

before we share stories.

甚至只看了一眼标题。

Who here has done that?

你们谁这么干过？

I know I have.

我就这么干过。

But what if

但是如果

we stopped taking information that we discover at face value?

我们停止转发那些我们 匆匆一瞥看到的信息会怎样？

What if we stop to think about the consequence

如果我们停下来想一想，

of the information that we pass on

我们的转发可能 包含暴力或仇恨言论，

and its potential to incite violence or hatred?

会有什么后果，会怎样？

What if we stop to think about the real-life consequences

如果我们在转发之前， 认真的想一想这样的行为

of the information that we share?

会对真实的世界 造成什么影响，又会怎样？

Thank you very much for listening.

非常感谢大家的聆听。

(Applause)

（掌声）