Facebook Blocks Group Critical of Thai King After Government Pressure

Facebook屈从于泰国政府压力屏蔽一个讨论小组

By Bryan Lynn
26 August 2020

Facebook has blocked a discussion group that includes criticism of Thailand's monarchy after pressure from the government.
在政府施压之后，Facebook屏蔽了一个批评泰国君主制的讨论小组。

Facebook said in a statement it felt "compelled" to block the group because it contained material the Thai government considers illegal. Thailand has strict laws that prevent open discussion and criticism of the country's monarchy.
Facebook在一份声明中称其“被迫”屏蔽了该小组，因为其中包含了泰国政府认定的非法材料。泰国有严格法律防止人们对该国君主制进行公开讨论和批评。

Facebook noted the seriousness of its action, saying such government orders "have a chilling effect on people's ability to express themselves. The group is only blocked for Facebook users in Thailand. It is available in all other places. The company said it was preparing a legal challenge to the government request.
Facebook提到了此举的严重性，称此类政府命令对人民表达意见产生了寒蝉效应。该小组仅对泰国的Facebook用户屏蔽。它在其它所有地方都可见。该公司称其正准备对泰国政府的要求提出上诉。

The Facebook group, called "Royalist Marketplace," was created in April by Pavin Chachavalpongpun. He is a self-exiled activist and critic of the monarchy. He now lives in self-exile in Japan. Pavin said the group had reached 1 million members just a few days ago.
这个名为“保皇党市场”的小组是由帕温于今年4月份创立。他是一名自我流亡的激进主义者，也是君主制的批评者。他现在自我流放到了日本。帕温表示，该小组的成员在几天前已经达到了100万。

Pavin criticized Facebook for giving in to government pressure. "By accepting the requests, whether you like it or not, you become part of that, you become a part of the support that you gave to the authoritarian" government, Pavin told The Associated Press.
帕温批评Facebook屈服于泰国政府的压力。帕温对美联社表示：“无论Facebook是否情愿，接受了这一要求，它就成为了专制政府的一部分。”

Pavin was not in Thailand when the country's current prime minister, Prayuth Chan-ocha, led a military coup in 2014. At the time, Prayuth was the army chief. Following the coup, the ruling government called on critics of the government and monarchy, including Pavin, to come forward. Pavin decided to remain outside the country. He is currently a professor at Kyoto University.
泰国时任总理巴育2014年领导军事政变时，帕温不在泰国。当时巴育是陆军总司令。政变之后，执政政府呼吁帕温等政府和君主制的批评者站出来。帕温决定留在国外。他目前是京都大学的教授。

Prayuth told reporters on Tuesday the government had asked Facebook to block the page because it violates Thai law. He said the government would push back against any legal challenge to its request.
巴育周二对记者表示，政府已经要求Facebook屏蔽该页面，因为它违反了泰国法律。他说，政府将会反击任何对其要求的起诉。

Pavin said that after the Facebook group was blocked he immediately created another one that is mostly the same. That page is called "Royalist Marketplace-Talad Luang." The term "Talad Luang" means "Royalist Marketplace."
帕温表示，在该小组被屏蔽之后，他迅速创建了另一个几乎相同的小组。该页面被命名为“保皇党市场-Talad Luang”。“Talad Luang”的意思就是保皇党市场。

The new group already has more than 500,000 members. Many have moved over from the blocked page. "Our group is part of a democratization process, it is a space for freedom of expression," Pavin told Reuters news agency.
这个新的小组已经有超过50万名成员。很多人都是从被屏蔽的页面转过来的。帕温对路透社表示：“我们的小组是民主化进程的一部分，这是言论自由的地方。”

A growing number of youth-led protests have taken place in Thailand in recent weeks. The protesters oppose the current military-run government. In addition, activists have for the first time openly called for reforms in the monarchy system.
最近几周，泰国发生了越来越多由年轻人主导的示威活动。示威者反对现任军政府。此外，激进主义者首次公开呼吁对君主制进行改革。

Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn enjoys extraordinary power because he receives support from the military and the country's billionaire families. Since becoming king, he has taken direct control of the palace's fortune, estimated to be worth up to $60 billion.
泰国国王玛哈·瓦吉拉隆功享有非凡权力，因为他得到了军方和该国亿万富翁家庭的支持。自担任国王以来，他直接控制了王室财富，据估计，他的财产价值高达600亿美元。

The protesters are calling for more openness about the royal family's finances and an end to the country's defamation law related to the king. They also want to see a new parliament elected and a new constitution created.
示威者呼吁王室的财务状况要更加透明，并终止该国与国王有关的诽谤法。他们还希望看到选出新议会，并创建新宪法。

I'm Bryan Lynn.
我是布莱恩·林恩。

Words in This Story

monarchy – n. a system of government in which a country is ruled by a king and queen whose power is limited by a constitution

compel – v. to force someone to do something

chilling – adj. very frightening

challenge – n. something that is difficult to do

authoritarian – adj. enforcing or pushing for strict obedience to authority at the expense of personal freedom

inspire – v. make someone feel that they want to do something and can do it

fortune – n. a lot of money

defamation – n. the action of damaging the reputation of a person or group by saying or writing bad things about them that are not true

*内容来源51VOA.COM原创翻译，侵删~

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