Cameroon Taking Steps to Control Social Media(翻译)

Social media use has risen sharply in Cameroon, as have the government’s efforts to control it.
社交媒体在喀麦隆的使用大幅度增加，而政府的管控也越来越严格。

Our story begins at a church in Limbe, in southwestern Cameroon. These church members are praying for three men.
我们的故事开始于喀麦隆西南部林贝的一所教堂。这些教会成员正在为三个人祈祷。

A military court ruled against the three earlier this month. The men were arrested after they reportedly shared a joke about a membership campaign for the Boko Haram terrorist group on social media.
本月早些时候，军事法庭对这三个人做出了判决。据报道，他们因为在社交媒体上分享了有关恐怖组织“博科圣地”成员活动的笑话而被捕。

The trial was not open to the public. The rights group Amnesty International and local rights activists condemned the court’s ruling.
审判没有对公众开放。人权组织“大赦国际”和当地人权活动家谴责了法庭的审判。

Tabot Timothy is a 22-year-old law student at the University of Douala-Cameroon. He joined others at the religious center one day recently to protest the ruling.
塔伯特·提摩西是喀麦隆杜阿拉大学的法律系学生。最近一天他参加了抗议判决的宗教集会活动。

“It was just normal for a thorough investigation to be carried out to really ascertain the fact that these guys were joking. It is unjust. Thorough investigations were not carried out.”
“进行周密的调查，发现这些人只是开玩笑，是很正常的。这不公平。但是并没有进行周密的调查。”

The government has used several laws to limit mobile and online communication, including an anti-terrorism law passed in 2014.
政府已经通过了一些法律来限制移动和在线通信，包括2014年通过的《反恐怖主义法》。

Barrister George Marcellin Tsoungui is with the Cameroon Bar Council.
乔治·马塞兰·楚恩吉律师在喀麦隆律师理事会工作。

He says people who use social media to spread uNPRoven information can be sentenced to between six months and two years in prison and fined $10,000 to $20,000. He says the punishments can be twice those amounts if a court rules that the communications were designed to cause unrest.
他说，使用社交媒体的人，如果散布未经证实的消息，可能会被判处六个月到两年的监禁，罚款10000到20000美元。他说，如果法庭发现这些消息旨在引发动乱，那么惩罚就会加倍。

Police detained a journalist in January after he incorrectly reported on social media that President Paul Biya had visited soldiers in Cameroon’s north.
一月份，警方拘留了一名记者，因为他在社交媒体上错误地报道了总统保罗·比亚看望喀麦隆北部士兵的消息。

In March, police arrested people accused of sharing a letter from the country’s minister of defense on social media. The letter was released without the minister’s permission. It said that Boko Haram members had arrived in the capital, Yaounde.
三月份，警方逮捕了在社交媒体上分享该国国防部长的一封信的人。这封信没有得到部长的同意就流出了。那封信说“博科圣地”成员已经到达了喀麦隆首都雅温德。

The National Communications Council has the power to stop reporters from working and close media businesses. It is investigating 20 complaints made by top government officials. One of the reports is about a minister who was seen on Facebook dancing to the music of Franko -- a singer whose songs are banned by the government.
国家通讯委员会拥有给记者免职、关闭媒体公司的权力。该机构正在调查政府高官提起的20项投诉。其中一起投诉是，人们看到一名部长在脸书网上和着弗兰科的歌跳舞——这名歌手的歌被政府禁掉了。

Yet social media and mobile messaging apps and networking sites are increasingly popular in Cameroon. In fact, they are used by both opponents and supporters of the government.
但是社交媒体、移动通讯应用和网站却在喀麦隆越来越流行。事实上，政府的支持者和反对者双方都在用这些东西。

Nelson Tawe has examined the spread of social media in Cameroon.
尼尔森·塔维解释了社交媒体在喀麦隆的快速发展。

“Social media is inevitable. It’s like a devil that you are called upon to live with. It’s difficult to suppress it. It’s just going to be like throwing water on the duck’s back. Social media has come to stay -- there’s no way you can suppress it. I think that (the) government will have an uphill task to succeed in what it’s trying to do.”
“社交媒体是不可避免的。它就像你召唤来一起住的恶魔。很难去压制它。这就好比往鸭子背上扔水。社交媒体已经扎下根了——你没有办法去压制它。我觉得，对于想要做的事，政府正面临一个漫长而艰难的任务。”

Several other African countries have taken actions against people who use social media in ways governments believe are illegal.
其他几个非洲国家也已经对政府认为非法使用社交媒体的人采取了措施。

I’m Christopher Jones-Cruise.
克里斯托夫·琼斯-克鲁斯为您报道。