False information about the new coronavirus has continued to spread around the world, just like the illness itself. In answer, major technology companies have created new tools and rules to reduce misinformation and provide facts about the virus.就像疾病本身一樣，有關新冠狀病毒的虛假信息繼續在世界範圍內傳播。對此，主要的技術公司已經創建了新的工具和規則，以減少錯誤信息並提供有關該病毒的事實。
Health officials and others have welcomed the new efforts. They have long urged tech companies to do more to prevent the spread of false information online.衛生官員和其他人士對新的努力表示歡迎。他們長期以來一直敦促科技公司做更多的事情，以防止虛假信息在網上傳播。
Andy Pattison is head of digital solutions for the World Health Organization (WHO). He told The Associated Press that some major tech companies have taken stronger action to reduce coronavirus misinformation.Andy Pattison是世界衛生組織（WHO）的數字解決方案負責人。他告訴美聯社，一些大型科技公司已經採取了更強有力的措施來減少冠狀病毒的錯誤信息。
For the past two years, Pattison has been urging companies like Facebook to take more aggressive action against false information about vaccinations. Now, he says his team spends a lot of time identifying misleading coronavirus information online. Sometimes, Pattison contacts officials at Facebook, Google and YouTube to request that they remove such misinformation.在過去的兩年中，Pattison一直在敦促Facebook之類的公司採取更積極的行動，以應對有關疫苗接種的虛假信息。現在，他說他的團隊花費大量時間在網上識別誤導性冠狀病毒信息。Pattison有時會聯繫Facebook，Google和YouTube的官員，要求他們刪除此類錯誤信息。
In some cases, coronavirus misinformation has led to deadly results. Last month, Iranian media reported more than 300 people had died and 1,000 were sickened after eating methanol, a poisonous alcohol. Information about the substance being a possible cure for coronavirus had recently appeared on social media.在某些情況下，冠狀病毒錯誤信息導致了致命的結果。上個月，伊朗媒體報道說，食用甲醇（一種有毒的酒精）後，有300多人死亡，1000人患病。有關該物質可用於治療冠狀病毒的信息最近已出現在社交媒體上。
In the American state of Arizona, a man died and his wife became seriously ill after taking chloroquine phosphate, a product that some people mistake for the anti-malaria drug chloroquine.在美國亞利桑那州，服用氯喹磷酸鹽後，一名男子死亡，其妻子也患了重病，該產品被一些人誤認為是抗瘧疾藥物氯喹。
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA, says chloroquine phosphate is used to treat disease in fish kept at home. It is not meant to be taken by humans. Chloroquine has been used to treat malaria and some other conditions in humans. It is being studied as a possible treatment for COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.美國食品和藥物管理局（FDA）說，磷酸氯喹用於治療在家飼養的魚類中的疾病。它不適合人類使用。氯喹已被用於治療人類的瘧疾和其他一些疾病。目前正在研究將其作為治療COVID-19（一種由新的冠狀病毒引起的疾病）的可能方法。
U.S. President Donald Trump and some of his supporters have said they think chloroquine could be an effective treatment against the virus. Similar claims about chloroquine were widely publicized and shared on social media.美國總統唐納德·特朗普及其一些支持者表示，他們認為氯喹可能是一種有效的抗病毒治療方法。關於氯喹的類似說法已在社會媒體上廣泛宣傳和分享。
However, health officials have warned that the drug has not been proven to be safe or effective in treating or preventing COVID-19. Twitter and Facebook decided to take steps to reduce the spread of information about such unproven treatments.但是，衛生官員警告說，該藥物尚未被證明在治療或預防COVID-19方面是安全或有效的。Twitter和Facebook決定採取措施，以減少有關未經證實的治療方法的信息傳播。
Twitter removed a post by Trump's personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani that described hydroxychloroquine, which is related to chloroquine, as "100 percent effective" against coronavirus. Twitter also removed a tweet from a Fox News broadcaster in which she said the drug had shown "promising results."Twitter刪除了特朗普的私人律師魯迪·朱利安尼（Rudy Giuliani）的一篇帖子，該帖子稱與氯喹有關的羥氯喹對冠狀病毒“ 100％有效”。Twitter還從福克斯新聞廣播公司刪除了一條推文，她說該藥顯示出“有希望的結果”。
And in what may have been a first, Facebook removed information posted by Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who claimed hydroxychloroquine was "working in every place" to treat coronavirus. Twitter also removed a linked video.最初，Facebook刪除了巴西總統賈爾·博爾索納羅（Jair Bolsonaro）發佈的信息，後者聲稱羥氯喹“在每個地方都在工作”以治療冠狀病毒。Twitter還刪除了鏈接的視頻。
Facebook, Twitter, Google and others have increased their use of machine learning tools to identify false information. They also have put in place new restrictions on publishing misinformation.Facebook，Twitter，Google和其他公司增加了使用機器學習工具來識別虛假信息的能力。他們還對發佈錯誤信息設置了新的限制。
Dipayan Ghosh is co-director of the Platform Accountability Project at the Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He told The Associated Press that technology companies have learned that the publication of misinformation about the coronavirus can have tragic results.Dipayan Ghosh是馬薩諸塞州劍橋市哈佛肯尼迪學校平臺問責制項目的共同負責人。他告訴美聯社，科技公司已經獲悉，有關冠狀病毒的錯誤信息的發佈可能會帶來悲劇性的結果。
"They don't want to be held responsible in any way for perpetuating rumors that could lead directly to death," Ghosh said.戈什說：“他們不希望以任何方式使可能直接導致死亡的謠言永久化。”
For example, the Facebook-owned private messaging service WhatsApp has put a limit on the number of people users can forward messages to. WhatsApp hopes this helps limit the spread of COVID-19 misinformation.例如，Facebook擁有的私人消息傳遞服務WhatsApp限制了用戶可以向其轉發消息的人數。WhatsApp希望這有助於限制COVID-19錯誤信息的傳播。
Facebook also recently announced that it would start warning users if they have reacted to or shared false or harmful claims about COVID-19. The company says it will start sending such warning messages in the coming weeks. The users will also be directed to a website where the WHO lists and debunks misinformation about the coronavirus.Facebook最近還宣佈，如果用戶對COVID-19做出反應或分享虛假或有害聲明，它將開始警告用戶。該公司表示將在未來幾周內開始發送此類警告消息。用戶還將被引導到一個網站，在該網站上，世衛組織列出並揭穿了有關冠狀病毒的錯誤信息。
In addition to efforts to reduce false information, technology companies have noted they are widely publishing facts about the virus from trusted news sources and health officials. They are also making that information easy for users to find.除了減少虛假信息的努力外，技術公司還注意到它們正在從可信賴的新聞來源和衛生官員那裡廣泛發佈有關該病毒的事實。他們還使該信息易於用戶查找。
The WHO's Andy Pattison praises those efforts, too; more correct information can help reduce the level of misinformation, he said.世衛組織的安迪·帕蒂森（Andy Pattison）也對這些努力表示讚賞。他說，更正確的信息可以幫助減少錯誤信息的水平。
"People will fill the void out of fear," he added.他補充說：“人們將出於恐懼而填補空白。”
關鍵字: about coronavirus Pattison
