微博業務的一大威脅 中國互聯網審查

Weibo, the Twitter of China, is planning an IPO in the United States, letting American investors jump on the Chinese social media bandwagon.

微博(Weibo)被看作是中國的推特(Twitter)，現在，微博計劃在美國進行首次公開募股(IPO)，美國投資者可以藉此投資中國的社交媒體公司。

Here's the IPO filing, with plenty of detail worth reading.

微博提交的IPO文件中有很多細節值得琢磨。

One point that really sticks out is listed among the risk factors facing the company. To be fair, companies are inclined to throw in the entire kitchen sink of imaginable risks when listing these factors -- Chipotle recently cited global warming as a potential threat to its guacamole supply -- but they always make for a revealing read.

該公司羅列出的一系列風險因素中有一點非常值得注意。平心而論，尋求上市的公司往往會把所能想到的所有風險因素都列舉出來（比如Chipotle最近就將全球變暖作爲威脅該公司鱷梨色拉醬供應的一個潛在因素），但這些公司總會在其中透露一些真實情況。

In this case, it's as straightforward a description of Chinese internet censorship as you're likely to get from a major Chinese company. Here it is, emphasis ours:

在微博提交的文件中，該公司對於中國互聯網審查制度的描述可謂非常直白。以下是筆者摘錄的一些重點內容：

Regulation and censorship of information disseminated over the internet in China may adversely affect our business and subject us to liability for information displayed on our platform.

中國對於互聯網傳播信息的監管和審查制度可能會給我們的業務造成負面影響，公司可能會因在微博平臺上發佈的信息而被追究責任。

The PRC government has adopted regulations governing internet access and the distribution of information over the internet. Under these regulations, internet content providers and internet publishers are prohibited from posting or displaying over the internet content that, among other things, impairs the national dignity of China, is reactionary, obscene, superstitious, fraudulent or defamatory, or otherwise violates PRC laws and regulations. Failure to comply with these requirements may result in the revocation of licenses to provide internet content and other licenses and the closure of the concerned websites. The website operator may also be held liable for such censored information displayed on or linked to the website.

中國政府針對互聯網接入以及互聯網信息發佈制定了監管政策。根據這些監管政策，互聯網內容供應商和互聯網出版商不得發佈或展示有損中國國格的內容，不得發佈反動、淫穢、迷信、欺詐或誹謗內容，否則被視爲違反中國的法律法規。不遵守規定可能會被吊銷互聯網內容供應商運營牌照和其他牌照，相關網站也將被關閉。相關網站運營商也可能會因網站展示被禁信息或和鏈接到相關信息的發佈網站而被追究責任。

In addition, the MIIT has published regulations that subject website operators to potential liability for content displayed on their websites and for the actions of users and others using their systems, including liability for violations of PRC laws prohibiting the dissemination of content deemed to be socially destabilizing. The Ministry of Public Security has the authority to order any local internet service provider to block any internet website at its sole discretion. From time to time, the Ministry of Public Security has stopped the dissemination over the internet of information which it believes to be socially destabilizing. The State Administration for the Protection of State Secrets is also authorized to block any website it deems to be leaking state secrets or failing to meet the relevant regulations relating to the protection of state secrets in the dissemination of online information.

此外，工信部發布了規定，對於網站運營商網站上發佈的內容以及用戶和其他人使用其系統所從事的活動，網站運營商可能被追究責任，這些活動包括違反相關法律規定、傳播被認爲不利於社會穩定的內容。公安部有權自行決定讓任何本土互聯網服務提供商屏蔽任何互聯網網站。有時，公安部會阻止它認爲不利於社會穩定的信息在互聯網上的傳播。國家保密局也有權屏蔽任何它認爲泄露了國家機密或在傳播網絡信息時不滿足國家機密保護相關規定的網站。

Although we attempt to monitor the content posted by users on our platform, we are not able to effectively control or restrict content (including comments as well as pictures, videos and other multimedia content) generated or placed on our platform by our users. In March 2012, we had to disable the Comment feature on our platform for three days to clean up feeds related to certain rumors. To the extent that PRC regulatory authorities find any content displayed on our platform objectionable, they may require us to limit or eliminate the dissemination of such information on our platform. Failure to do so may subject us to liabilities and penalties and may even result in the temporary blockage or complete shutdown of our online operations.

儘管我們嘗試監控用戶在我們的平臺上發佈的內容，但我們實際上並不能控制或限制用戶在我們的平臺上生成或發佈的內容（包括評論、圖片、視頻和其他多媒體內容）。2012年3月，我們不得不將我們平臺上的評論功能停用了三天，以便清理與某些傳言有關的內容。只要中國監管機構發現我們平臺上顯示的任何內容令其不快，他們就可能要求我們在我們的平臺上限制或刪除這類信息的傳播。如果不按他們要求的去做，我們可能被追究責任，受到懲罰，甚至可能會被暫時屏蔽或網絡運營徹底關閉。

In addition, the Judicial Interpretation on the Application of Law in Trial of Online Defamation and Other Online Crimes jointly promulgated by the Supreme People's Court and Supreme People's Procuratorate, which became effective on September 10, 2013, imposes up to a three-year prison sentence on internet users who fabricate or knowingly share defamatory false information online. The implementation of this newly promulgated judicial interpretation may have a significant and adverse effect on the traffic of our platform and discourage the creation of user generated content, which in turn may impact the results of our operations and ultimately the trading price of our ADSs.

此外，根據最高人民法院和最高人民檢察院聯合發佈的《關於辦理利用信息網絡實施誹謗等刑事案件適用法律若干問題的解釋》（於2013年9月10日生效），造謠或明知且故意傳播誹謗性虛假信息的互聯網用戶可能面臨三年有期徒刑。這一新頒佈的司法解釋的實施可能對我們平臺的流量產生重大不利影響，不利於用戶生成內容的創造，這反過來可能影響到我們的經營表現，並最終影響我們的美國存托股票的交易價格。

Although our active user base has increased over the past several years , regulation and censorship of information disseminated over the internet in China may adversely affect our user experience and reduce users' engagement and activities on our platform as well as adversely affect our ability to attract new users to our platform. Any and all of these adverse impacts may ultimately materially and adversely affect our business and results of operations.

儘管我們的活躍用戶基礎在過去幾年中有所增長，監管和審查在中國互聯網中無處不在，這可能會對我們的用戶體驗產生不利影響，降低用戶在我們平臺的參與度和活動水平，並對我們吸引新用戶的能力產生不利影響。所有這些不利情形中的任何一種可能都會最終對我們的業務和經營表現產生重大不利影響。