China’s leading microblog is developing systems to simplify the control of content and make the wildly popular social media tool less of a risk to social stability, its chief executive has said.

　　中国领先微博服务商的首席执行官透露，公司正在开发相关系统，以简化内容管控，降低这个极具人气的社交媒体工具对社会稳定构成的风险。

　　“Over the past two to three months, we have been looking into how to establish a trust system,” said Charles Chao, chief executive of Sina Corp which runs Sina Weibo, the country’s most active microblog. He cited the way vendors on e-commerce websites get rated by their customers as a potential model.

　　新浪(Sina)首席执行官曹国伟(Charles Chao)表示：“新浪在过去的几个月里，也在着力地研究，想形成一套在微博体系上的信用体系。”新浪微博是中国最活跃的微博。曹国伟提到，可能会借鉴电子商务网站由买家给卖家评分的做法。

　　Mr Chao’s unusually forthright remarks confirm that tighter regulation is on the cards for China’s microblogs following a series of incidents where the outlets became forums for fierce criticism of the government.

　　曹国伟异乎寻常的率直言论证实了一点：在连续发生数起事件使微博成为民众激烈批评政府的平台后，中国的微博可能面临更加严格的监管。

　　After a high-speed rail crash which killed 40 people in July, live witness reports and comments from the crash site via Weibo repeatedly forced the authorities to adjust their handling of the accident, including the rescue effort and compensation of victims’ families.

　　7月份发生一起导致40人死亡的动车事故后，新浪微博(Weibo)上发自撞车现场的目击报道和评论多次迫使当局调整其事故处理方式，包括救援措施和对遇难者家庭的补偿。

　　Last month, Weibo was used to organise a large-scale demonstration in the northeastern city of Dalian against a toxic petrochemical plant, which subsequently forced the authorities to promise a relocation of the factory.

　　上月，大连市民通过新浪微博组织了一次大规模示威活动，抗议一座有毒的化工厂，最终迫使当局承诺迁移该工厂。

　　Earlier this month, the 15-year-old son of an army general attacked a couple after a traffic dispute, and threatened bystanders not to call the police. Spread nationwide via Weibo, news of the incident triggered outrage over the arrogance of the country’s wealthy and powerful, and the young man was swiftly arrested, tried and sentenced last week to a year in a juvenile correctional facility.

　　本月早些时候，一位少将的15岁儿子因交通纠纷殴打一对夫妇，并警告旁观者不许报警。该消息通过新浪微博传遍全国，激起民众对权贵之骄狂的愤慨。这位年轻人旋即被逮捕归案，并于上周被判处收容教养1年。

　　Such incidents have fuelled debate within the authorities over how to regulate the microblogs, with one camp demonising them as a forum for evil rumours and another stressing their beneficial functions in promoting transparency.

　　这些事件在当局内部引发了关于如何管理微博的争论，一个阵营把微博妖魔化，斥之为滋生恶意谣言的平台，另一阵营则强调微博在提高透明度方面的有益作用。

　　Zhan Jiang, a journalism professor at Beijing Foreign Studies University, said efforts by Wen Jiabao, China’s premier, to push transparency and information disclosure within the government had produced a certain momentum that could not easily be undone by more conservative forces, such as the Communist party propaganda apparatus.

　　北京外国语大学新闻学教授展江表示，温家宝总理在政府内部推动信息公开、透明的努力已经形成了一定势头，不会轻易被中共宣传部门等保守势力瓦解。

　　Still, Mr Chao said the microblogs posed a “very serious challenge” for the government’s efforts to filter information and control society, and that many rumours spread through the services created “huge damage” to individuals and to the government.

　　不过曹国伟也表示，微博对政府过滤信息和控制社会的努力构成了“非常大的挑战”，很多通过微博散播的谣言对个人、对政府都造成了“巨大的伤害和损失”。

　　“We will hand out different degrees of punishment to those who spread malicious rumours,” Mr Chao said, adding that the more prominent and widely respected microbloggers could act as a moderating force within the blogosphere, if complemented by a more reliable regulatory regime.

　　“对恶意的造谣者我们会有不同的惩罚措施。”曹国伟还补充道，知名、广受尊敬的微博主可以作为微博圈内的一支自我调解力量，同时还应实施一套更加可靠的监管机制。

　　Analysts see Sina’s moves as the clearest sign yet that pressure on the operators is rising. But most play down fears of a shutdown of the microblogs, and two years after the start of Sina’s microblog, the regulatory regime for this segment is maturing.

　　分析师认为，新浪这些举措是迄今最清晰的信号，表明微博运营商面临的压力正在上升。不过大多数人都认为微博不会被关闭，而在新浪微博运营两年后，相关监管机制也日趋成熟。

　　“I think it’s impossible that [the authorities will] shut down the microblogs,” said Mr Zhan.

　　展江表示：“我不认为（当局）会关闭微博。”

　　Most industry experts agree that there is a broad consensus within the authorities that the net effect of allowing the internet to grow is positive to the regime and to the country.

　　大多数行业分析师都一致认为，当局内部存在一种广泛的共识，认为允许互联网发展对体制和国家具有正面的净效应。

　　“We have found a Chinese way of having news portals and blogs, and we will find a Chinese way of having microblogs,” said a Communist party propaganda official.

　　一位宣传官员表示：“我们已经找到一种有中国特色的新闻门户网站和博客运营方式，对于微博，我们也会找到一种有中国特色的解决之路。”

　　Part of this solution with Chinese characteristics is that Twitter is blocked in China and those microblogs that are allowed are operated by companies that have long proved their willingness to help the authorities filter content and tame users.

　　这套具有中国特色的解决方案的内容之一就是，推特(Twitter)在中国遭到封锁，而获准开通的微博都隶属长期以来已证明愿意协助当局过滤内容和管控用户的运营商。

　　Since central, provincial and local authorities share responsibility for internet monitoring with the private companies that host content, microblog censorship has been as inconsistent as that of other parts of the internet.

　　由于中央、省和地方各级政府与提供内容的民企共同承担互联网监控责任，微博审查与针对互联网其它领域的审查一样时紧时松。

　　But overall, controls are tightening, says Cheng Yizhong, founder and former editor-in-chief of Southern Metropolis Daily and one of China’s most respected journalists. In a famous microblog post earlier this year he ridiculed social inequality and curbs on freedom of speech.

　　不过，《南方都市报》创始人及前总编、中国最受尊敬的新闻工作者之一程益中表示，总体而言，对微博的控制正在加强。在今年早些时候发布的一条著名微博中，程益中对社会不平等和限制言论自由的现象进行了嘲讽。

　　Apart from regularly having his posts erased, he recently found that his posts were delayed, remained hidden from other Weibo users unless searched explicitly, and that some other Weibo users were stopped from following him.

　　除了发布的微博会定期被删除以外，程益中最近发现，他的微博会被延迟发布，而其他微博用户除非进行明确搜索，否则看不到他的微博，有些用户对他的关注甚至被无故取消。