悉尼11月10日消息——澳大利亚互联网监管机构于周二拒绝了科技巨头的警告。这些科技巨头此前警告称，一项拟议中的在线安全法将引发各大平台的广泛审查，因为它们急于避免承担责任。监管机构则辩称，这些公司的商业模式激励它们最大限度地提高用户参与度。
SYDNEY, Nov 10 - Australia’s internet regulator on Tuesday rejected warnings from tech giants that a proposed online safety law would trigger widespread censorship by platforms anxious to avoid liability, arguing that their business models incentivised them to maximise user engagement.
政府的《数字注意义务法案》将迫使互联网公司主动检查并制止潜在的用户伤害行为，否则将面临高达1.09亿澳元（合7500万美元）的罚款。
The government’s Digital Duty of Care legislation will force internet companies to proactively check and stop potential user harms or face fines of up to A$109 million ($75 million).
行业批评人士和言论自由倡导者表示，该法案赋予了监管机构过大的话语权，使其得以决定何种内容具有危害性；而支持者则表示，只有一部广泛的法律才能确保建立有效的安全框架。
Industry critics and free speech advocates say it gives regulators too much say on what content is harmful, while supporters say only a wide-ranging law can ensure an effective safety framework.
该法案已在众议院获得通过，但需要跨党派议员的支持才能在参议院获得通过并成为法律。
The legislation has passed the House of Representatives, but needs crossbench support to clear the Senate and become law.
电子安全专员朱莉·英曼·格兰特在参议院听证会上被问及该法案将对言论自由产生寒蝉效应的警告时表示：“我没有看到任何迹象表明公司正在进行过度审查，特别是在过去两年里。”
"I haven’t seen any indication, particularly over the past two years, that companies are over-censoring," eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant told a Senate inquiry, when asked about warnings the law would have a chilling effect on free speech.
她说：“如今的公司正试图展示最大数量的内容，无论这些内容对澳大利亚社会有多么有害或具有伤害性。”
"Companies today are trying to show the maximum amount of material, no matter how harmful or hurtful it is to the Australian community," she said.
在周一的听证会上，谷歌澳大利亚公司的一位高管在谈到该法案中要求在儿童接触色情内容存在风险时进行年龄验证的条款时表示，该法案可能会迫使该公司阻止18岁以下的用户使用其Gmail服务。
Referring to a section of the law requiring age checks if there was a risk of a child seeing pornography, a senior executive at Google in Australia told the hearing on Monday that the law might force the company to block under-18s from using its Gmail service.
拥有Facebook、Instagram和WhatsApp的Meta公司以及TikTok和Snap的代表在听证会上也表达了类似担忧，称该法案可能赋予监管机构过大的自由裁量权来决定什么是具有危害性的内容。
Representatives from Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, as well as TikTok and Snap, voiced similar concerns at the hearing, saying the law could give regulators too much discretion to decide what is harmful.
英曼·格兰特表示，如果立法者认为该法案的措辞过于模糊，他们应该对有害内容纳入更狭窄的定义。
Inman Grant said if lawmakers considered the wording of the legislation too vague, they should include a narrower definition of harmful content.
她说：“如果有机会，并且我们能够获得更高的明确性，这将从执法角度对我们有所帮助。”
"If there is opportunity, and we can get some more specificity, this will help us from an enforcement perspective," she said.
N她说，大多数过度删除内容的情况都是由于缺乏人工监督的自动审核系统运行造成的，而不是监管压力导致的。
Most cases of excessive content removal were the result of automated moderation systems operating without human oversight, rather than of regulatory pressure, she said.
政府希望该法案能在年底前获得通过。该法案还将赋予用户选择不接收算法推荐内容、仅查看他们选择关注的账户所发布帖子的机会。
The government wants the legislation, which would also give users the chance to opt out of algorithmically recommended content and see posts only from accounts they have chosen to follow, to be passed by the end of the year.