Exactly a year ago, Facebook’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, testified before Congress and apologized for his company’s role in enabling “fake news, foreign interference in elections and hate speech.”

整整一年前，臉書執行長祖克柏去美國國會作證，並為臉書使「假新聞、外國介入選舉和仇恨言論」有機會出現而道歉。

It was a memorable moment amid a broader reckoning that continues to inspire debate over how closely Facebook and other technology giants should be regulated.

這是範圍更廣的反省潮流中一個值得紀念的時刻，這股潮流持續引發人們討論，對臉書等科技巨頭的規範究竟該多嚴格。

As Silicon Valley grapples with its version of becoming too big to fail, Zuckerberg and his industry peers might take lessons from Wall Street, whose leaders have some experience with government scrutiny. (On Wednesday, bank chief executives were being grilled by Congress.)

此際矽谷正努力應付自己版本的「大到不能倒」問題，祖克柏與同業不妨學學華爾街，那兒的領袖對政府監督有些經驗。（幾位銀行執行長4月10日被美國國會找去盤問。）

Although it won’t address all of Big Tech’s problems, a simple rule that bolsters the banking system could do a lot to clean up some of the uglier aspects of social media that Zuckerberg felt compelled to apologize for.

有一條促進銀行體系發展的簡單規則，雖不能解決科技巨擘所有問題，卻能清除社群媒體較醜陋、祖克柏覺得必須為之道歉的一些面向。

The concept is “know your customer” — or KYC, as it’s called on Wall Street — and it’s straightforward: Given concerns about privacy, security and fraud when it comes to money, no bank is allowed to take on a new customer without verifying its existence and vetting its background.

這概念就是「認識你的客戶」，也就是華爾街所謂的KYC，含意簡單明瞭：由於擔心發生金錢方面的隱私、安全和詐騙問題，沒有一家銀行獲准在不查證真偽和審查背景的情況下接納新客戶。

The idea of applying such a rule to social media has been floated before, but it has so far failed to take hold. Now may be the right time.

有人提過把這項規則應用在社群媒體，但到目前都沒實現。也許時候到了。

Consider this: Facebook has said it shut down more than 1.5 billion fake accounts from April through September last year (yes, that’s a “B” in billion). That was up from the 1.3 billion such accounts it eliminated in the six previous months. To put those numbers in context, Facebook has a reported user base of 2.3 billion.

想想看：臉書說，從去年4月到9月，臉書共刪除15億個假帳號（沒錯，是億，不是百萬），比臉書前六個月刪除的13億個要多。把這些數字放到大背景下看，臉書號稱有23億用戶。

What if social media companies had to verify their users the same way banks do? You’d probably feel more confident that you were interacting with real people and were not just a target for malicious bots.

要是社群媒體公司必須像銀行一樣查證用戶真偽，那會如何？你可能會更相信你在跟真人互動，而不只是惡意機器人的攻擊目標。

First, let’s acknowledge the practical considerations. Vetting the vast universe of those on social media would be a gargantuan task.

首先，讓我們坦誠面對實務上的考量。審查多如恆河沙數的社群媒體用戶，會是極其繁重的工作。

When I broached the idea of applying a “know your customer” principle to their business, several senior executives at social media companies recoiled at the prospect, questioning how they would pull off such a huge feat, especially in emerging markets where many people lack credit cards, and even fixed street addresses can be hard to come by.

當我向幾名社群媒體公司高層談到應用「認識你的客戶」原則時，他們不以為然，質疑如何能完成這個壯舉，尤其是在許多人沒有信用卡，甚至連固定住址都難以取得的新興市場。

Then there are the legitimate complaints about Facebook and its ilk already knowing too much about users. Who would want them to know even more? And what would the companies do to protect personal information better than they have in the past?

此外，各界本已合理抱怨臉書這類網站對用戶所知太多。誰還想要這些網站知道更多？這些公司又該怎麼做才能比先前更有效保護個資？

On the pitch, soccer is a cipher for war, with uniforms, formations, victory and defeat. Beyond the pitch, soccer is power, with owners seemingly using their teams as much for the corollary benefits as for any love of the game.

在球場上，足球代表著戰爭，有制服、隊形、勝利與失敗，而到了球場之外，足球卻是一種力量，若論球隊擁有者操作球隊的動機，用以獲得必然的實際效益，似乎不下於對足球比賽的熱愛。

Sports in general, but especially soccer — given its global appeal — are an ideal way for tycoons to purchase prestige and for countries to burnish their reputations, particularly when governments have unsavory associations with issues such as human rights abuse, gender inequality or anti-democratic politics.

一般的運動，尤其是風行全球的足球，是大亨們獲得聲譽及各個國家美化形象的理想方式，特別是當一國政府跟侵犯人權、性別不平等或反民主政治等不名譽議題扯上關係之時。

“Soccer and the Arab World: The Revolution of the Round Ball,” an exhibition at the Arab World Institute in Paris that runs through July 21, surveys the modern history of the sport in Africa and the Middle East, charting changes in gender and racial politics, government and finance, through the lens of the game.

刻在巴黎阿拉伯世界文化中心舉辦的「足球與阿拉伯世界：圓球革命」展覽，展至7月21日，勘測非洲與中東的現代足球史，透過足球運動的視角描繪性別和種族政治、以及政府與財政的變化。

Viewing the Arab world from the French perspective, the show ranges from midcentury events like the rise of the first Algerian national team, whose players broke away from France even though Algeria was still a colony, to more recent ones, like the purchase in 2011 of the French soccer team, Paris St.-Germain, by a Qatari state-run company.

以法國角度來看阿拉伯世界的話，這項展覽包括世紀中葉發生的事件，例如阿爾及利亞即便仍為殖民地，選手仍脫離法國組成首支國家隊，另外還有比較晚近的事，像是2011年一家卡達國營企業收購法國巴黎聖日耳曼足球隊。

Binding the show together is an exploration of political clout: using soccer to explore the increasing reach of some Arab nations, while France’s global influence is decreasing — seen in the cultural legitimacy that the sport provides.

將這些展出內容結合在一起，旨在對政治影響力進行探究，藉由足球來探索一些阿拉伯國家日益擴大的影響力，同一時間法國的全球影響力則正在減弱，而這從該項運動提供的文化合法性中可以看出。

“New Arab countries are in the game,” said the show’s curator, Aurélie Clemente-Ruiz, on a recent tour of the exhibition. “It’s not only North Africa or the Middle East but all of these countries from the Arabian Peninsula — Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the Emirates — that are very involved in soccer, and it’s a way for them to exist in an international point of view. It’s a real soft power and, to them, very useful.”

策展人歐黑里·克雷蒙·芮斯日前參觀展覽時說：「新的阿拉伯國家成了玩家。不僅僅是北非或中東，還有來自阿拉伯半島的卡達、沙烏地阿拉伯和阿拉伯聯合大公國這些國家，也都深度介入足球，這也是他們在國際舞台上存在的一種方式。這是種真正的軟實力，對他們來說非常有用。」

At the root is the ability of sports to shape perceptions. For the likes of Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, being associated with global soccer can help divert attention from the international indignation at the killing of a dissident.

一切的根本在於，體育能塑造觀感。對沙烏地阿拉伯王儲穆罕默德這樣的人來說，跟全球足球運動扯上關係，有助於轉移國際社會對殺害一名異議分子的怒氣。

For Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan of Abu Dhabi, one of the United Arab Emirates, his ownership and lavish spending on the English team Manchester City automatically buys a certain fame and influence. Similar reasons inform Qatar’s control of Paris St.-Germain and the country’s efforts to win the right to host the men’s World Cup in 2022.

對阿拉伯聯合大公國成員阿布達比的曼蘇爾親王來說，他在英國曼城足球隊的所有權跟大手筆支出，自然會為他贏得一定的聲譽及影響力，而類似的原因也說明了卡達為何要掌控巴黎聖日耳曼隊，以及努力贏得2022年男子世界盃足球賽主辦權。

《說文解字看新聞》

足球是全球第一大運動，世界盃足球賽更是除奧運外最受歡迎賽事，球場內外均具有無比影響力，這讓中東國家及其王室貴族想藉足球提升知名度，甚或改善形象，而首段單字pitch指的是足球場，其他常見運動場地英文則還有baseball field（棒球場）、course（高球場）、court（籃/網/排/羽毛球場），賽車場則是racing track，velodrome則是專指室內自行車比賽場館。

clout則是新聞英文中的常見單字，意指影響力或權勢，同義詞有influence、sway及authority等等。另外必須注意的是，survey在文中指的是勘測，並非「調查」此一常見意思，而文中片語the likes of的意思是「像…這樣的」，介系詞of後須接人或事物。

至於軟實力（soft power）一詞是由美國學者奈伊所提出，是相對於經濟與軍事的一種力量，指的是政治、文化、體育與價值觀等方面的影響力。