微博业务的一大威胁 中国互联网审查

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)被看作是中国的推特(Twitter)，现在，微博计划在美国进行首次公开募股(IPO)，美国投资者可以藉此投资中国的社交媒体公司。

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

微博提交的IPO文件中有很多细节值得琢磨。

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.

该公司罗列出的一系列风险因素中有一点非常值得注意。平心而论，寻求上市的公司往往会把所能想到的所有风险因素都列举出来（比如Chipotle最近就将全球变暖作为威胁该公司鳄梨色拉酱供应的一个潜在因素），但这些公司总会在其中透露一些真实情况。

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，该公司对于中国互联网审查制度的描述可谓非常直白。以下是笔者摘录的一些重点内容：

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.

中国对于互联网传播信息的监管和审查制度可能会给我们的业务造成负面影响，公司可能会因在微博平台上发布的信息而被追究责任。

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.

中国政府针对互联网接入以及互联网信息发布制定了监管政策。根据这些监管政策，互联网内容供应商和互联网出版商不得发布或展示有损中国国格的内容，不得发布反动、淫秽、迷信、欺诈或诽谤内容，否则被视为违反中国的法律法规。不遵守规定可能会被吊销互联网内容供应商运营牌照和其他牌照，相关网站也将被关闭。相关网站运营商也可能会因网站展示被禁信息或和链接到相关信息的发布网站而被追究责任。

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，工信部发布了规定，对于网站运营商网站上发布的内容以及用户和其他人使用其系统所从事的活动，网站运营商可能被追究责任，这些活动包括违反相关法律规定、传播被认为不利于社会稳定的内容。公安部有权自行决定让任何本土互联网服务提供商屏蔽任何互联网网站。有时，公安部会阻止它认为不利于社会稳定的信息在互联网上的传播。国家保密局也有权屏蔽任何它认为泄露了国家机密或在传播网络信息时不满足国家机密保护相关规定的网站。

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.

尽管我们尝试监控用户在我们的平台上发布的内容，但我们实际上并不能控制或限制用户在我们的平台上生成或发布的内容（包括评论、图片、视频和其他多媒体内容）。2012年3月，我们不得不将我们平台上的评论功能停用了三天，以便清理与某些传言有关的内容。只要中国监管机构发现我们平台上显示的任何内容令其不快，他们就可能要求我们在我们的平台上限制或删除这类信息的传播。如果不按他们要求的去做，我们可能被追究责任，受到惩罚，甚至可能会被暂时屏蔽或网络运营彻底关闭。

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，根据最高人民法院和最高人民检察院联合发布的《关于办理利用信息网络实施诽谤等刑事案件适用法律若干问题的解释》（于2013年9月10日生效），造谣或明知且故意传播诽谤性虚假信息的互联网用户可能面临三年有期徒刑。这一新颁布的司法解释的实施可能对我们平台的流量产生重大不利影响，不利于用户生成内容的创造，这反过来可能影响到我们的经营表现，并最终影响我们的美国存托股票的交易价格。

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.

尽管我们的活跃用户基础在过去几年中有所增长，监管和审查在中国互联网中无处不在，这可能会对我们的用户体验产生不利影响，降低用户在我们平台的参与度和活动水平，并对我们吸引新用户的能力产生不利影响。所有这些不利情形中的任何一种可能都会最终对我们的业务和经营表现产生重大不利影响。