VOA慢速英语2019--Instagram拒绝监视用户对话

Instagram Denies Spying on User Conversations

The head of Instagram said this week that the social networking service was not spying on conversations among Instagram users.

Some people have accused the company of listening to their microphones in order to know which advertisements to show them.

Adam Mosseri told the program “CBS This Morning” that Instagram does not listen to private conversations.

"We don't look at your messages, we don't listen in on your microphone," he said. "Doing so would be super problematic for a lot of different reasons.”

Mosseri admitted that his claims were hard to believe.

"I recognize you're not going to really believe me," he told reporter Gayle King.

King had repeatedly asked Mosseri about how users would get ads for things they had spoken about but never searched.

Mosseri gave two possible explanations.

"There's two ways it could happen,” he said. One is luck, “which can happen."

"Repeatedly?" King asked.

"The second is you might be talking about something because it's top of mind...I think this kind of thing happens often in a way that's really subtle," he later said.

Also on the program, King asked Mosseri about videos known as "deepfakes." A deepfake gives the appearance of an individual doing something that did not actually happen. Often, these videos are very realistic, making it difficult for viewers to know the difference.

Recently, a deepfake video of Facebook founder¹ Mark Zuckerberg was published on Instagram. It appeared to show Zuckerberg admitting to being in possession of stolen user information. The user who posted the video noted² it was not factual.

Reacting to questions about the removal of deepfakes on Instagram, Mosseri said the company was working on a plan of action. But he said his company would not remove the video of Zuckerberg.

"We are not going to make a one-off decision to take a piece of video down just because it's of Mark and Mark happens to run this place," he said. "We need to have defined principles and we need to be transparent³ about those principles."

I’m Alice Bryant.

Words in This Story

conversation – n. an informal talk involving two people or a small group of people

microphone – n. a device into which people speak or sing in order to record their voices or to make them sound louder

subtle – adj. hard to notice or see

viewer – n. a person who sees or looks at something

principle – n. a moral rule or belief that helps you know what is right and wrong

transparent – adj. honest and open

1 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

2 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

3 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。