美国社会的审查制度

Censorship in American Society

康韵理
美国人一听到“中国”的时候就会想到中国社会里的审查制度。这个现象的确有道理，因为在中国很多社交媒体都不
能用，很多话题都不能说，很多看法都不能说出来。但是，我要讨论的是美国的审查制度是什么样的。

When Americans hear the word "China," they immediately think of the censorship that goes on in Chinese
society. This makes sense, because many social media platforms can't be used in China, and many topics and
opinions can't be said. But what I want to discuss is what censorship looks like in America.
美国社会言论自由是最中心的价值观念之一，所以许多美国人不认为美国政府能推行审查制度。不过，川普总统
以前说他要限制美国人用 TikTok APP ，因为是一家中国公司做的。

Freedom of speech is one of the most central values in American society, so many Americans don't think the
American government can implement any form of censorship. However, President Trump once said that he
would restrict Americans from using TikTok because it was made by a Chinese company.
这听起来跟中国政府限制中国人民用脸书，谷歌等等美国公司做的 APP 很像，对吗？好像这两个政府的差异比我
们认为的小的很。

This sounds very similar to the Chinese government's restrictions on Chinese people using Facebook, Google
and other apps made by American companies, right? Perhaps the difference between the two governments is
smaller than we think.
那拜登总统对美国审查制度的看法是什么呢？虽然拜登总统也认为 TikTok 可能是对美国安全很危险，但是他不限制美国人
民用这个 APP 。对拜登总统来说，这个问题不只是跟美国安全有关的，也不只是跟美国审查有关的，同时是跟将来中美两国
之间的外交有关的。

But what is President Biden's view on American censorship? Although President Biden also thinks TikTok may be dangerous
to American security, he has not restricted American people from using this app. For Biden, this issue is not only related to
American security, nor only to American censorship, but also to future diplomacy between China and the United States.
讨论审查的时候我们也要谈一谈中国美国两种政治正确是怎么样的。譬如说，在中国，政治正确的意思是不应该
说跟西藏主权，香港主权等等话题有关的话，显然是一种审查。

When discussing censorship, we should also talk about political correctness in China and the United States. In
China, political correctness means that one should not bring up topics such as Tibetan and Hong Kong
sovereignty, which is obviously a kind of censorship.
不过美国的政治正确并不是这个意思，而意思就是不应该说出来种族主义的话，性别主义的话，对同性恋歧视的
话。虽然美国政治正确的确是一种审查，可是这种审查来保护别人，并不是来有恶意的压制人。

However, this is not what American political correctness means, which is that one should not be racist, sexist,
homophobic, or discriminatroy in any way. Although American political correctness is indeed a kind of
censorship, this kind of censorship is intended to protect others, not to suppress people maliciously.
中美两国分别的审查制度也有另一个差异：谁审查人民？在中国，人民日常用的社交媒体，比方说微信，不只是中国公
司做的，而是中国政府管的。这样中国政府能看谁讨论西藏主权的问题什么的。

There is another difference between the censorship systems of China and the United States: who is doing the
censoring. In China, people's daily social media, such as WeChat, are made by Chinese companies, but are managed by
the Chinese government. In this way, the Chinese government can see who discusses certain topics, like Tibet's
不过，在美国最近的审查不是美国政府管的，而是私家公司管的。比方说 Twitter 最近决定要禁止川普总统用他
们的平台。这个例子不是美国社会审查一位美国人吗？

However, the recent censorship in the United States is not managed by the American government, but by
private companies. Twitter, for example, recently decided to ban President Trump from using their platform. Isn't
this an example of American society censoring an American?
虽然跟美国社会比起来中国社会的审查制度很容易看到，但是美国人不应该忘记批评自己的政府，自己的社会并不是世界
上最理想的，所有人权的问题并没有完全解决好了，只有这样，我们才能不断进步。

Although the censorship system in Chinese society is much more evident compared to in American society, Americans
should not forget to be critical of their own government. American society is not the most ideal society in the world, as all
human rights problems have not been completely solved. Only by thinking in this way can we make progress nonstop.
谢谢大家！