调查显示作家群体对政府监控深感忧虑

A survey of writers around the world by the PEN American Center has found that a significant majority said they were deeply concerned with government surveillance, with many reporting that they have avoided, or have considered avoiding, controversial topics in their work or in personal communications as a result.

美国笔会(PEN American Center)在全球作家当中做了一项调查，结果绝大多数人都表示，他们对政府的监控深感关切，许多人也因此报告说他们在作品或者私下交流中一直在回避、或者想过要回避敏感话题。

The findings show that writers consider freedom of expression to be under significant threat around the world in democratic and nondemocratic countries. Some 75 percent of respondents in countries classified as “free,” 84 percent in “partly free” countries, and 80 percent in countries that were “not free” said that they were “very” or “somewhat” worried about government surveillance in their countries.

这些调查结果表明，无论是在民主国家还是非民主国家，作家们都认为言论自由正面临严重威胁。在“自由”国家类别下的调查对象中大约有75%的人，“部分自由”类别下84%的人，以及“不自由”国家类别下80%的人，都表示他们“非常”或者“多少有些”担心他们所在国家的政府监控行为。

The survey, which will be released Monday, was conducted anonymously online in fall 2014 and yielded 772 responses from fiction and nonfiction writers and related professionals, including translators and editors, in 50 countries.

这份2014年秋天线上进行的匿名调查报告，将于周一发表；调查共计收到来自50个国家的虚构类、非虚构类作品的作家，以及包括翻译和编辑在内的相关职业人士的答复，共计772份。

Smaller numbers said they avoided or considered avoiding writing or speaking on certain subjects, with 34 percent in countries classified as free, 44 percent in partly free countries and 61 percent in not free countries reporting self-censorship. Respondents in similar percentages reported curtailing social media activity, or said they were considering it, because of surveillance.

表示会回避或者考虑回避特定创作题材或话题的人数则相对要少一些，在“自由”国家类别下34%的调查对象、在“半自由”国家类别下44%的调查对象和“非自由”国家类别下61%的调查对象，都提到存在自我审查的现象。还有差不多比例的调查对象提到，因为监控而对社交媒体行为加以约束，或者表示考虑加以约束。

The survey included only writers affiliated with PEN, the writers’ group emphasizing freedom of expression, and others the group was able to contact, and did not necessarily reflect the views of all writers. But the executive director of the PEN American Center, Suzanne Nossel, said that the findings, taken together with those of a 2013 PEN survey of writers in the United States, indicate that mass surveillance is significantly damaging free expression and the free flow of information around the world.

这份调查仅包括笔会（PEN，这是一个唤起民众对言论自由关注的作家团体）的成员作家，以及该团体可以联络到的其他人，并不一定代表所有作家的观点。但美国笔会的负责人苏珊娜·诺塞尔(Suzanne Nossel)说，参照笔会在2013年对美国作家的一项调查，可以看到大规模的监控对于言论自由以及信息在世界自由流动的损害。

“Writers are the ones who experience encroachments on freedom of expression most acutely, or first,” Ms. Nossel said. “The idea that we are seeing some similar patterns in free countries to those we’ve traditionally associated with unfree countries is pretty distressing.”

“作家是对言论自由的损害最为敏感的群体，或者说是最早感受到的群体，”诺塞尔女士说，“我们正在自由国家看到一些似曾相识的模式，传统上它们是与非自由国家联系在一起的，这让人感到相当不安。”

The results of the survey, which was conducted by the nonpartisan research firm FDR Group, arrive amid continuing debate over the data collection programs of the National Security Agency, as well as increased broader concern about the erosion of privacy in the wake of various leaks and hacks, including the recent cyberattack on Sony.

由超党派研究机构FDR集团进行的这项调查的结果公布之时，正值国家安全局的信息搜集计划引发持续辩论之际，各种泄露和黑客行为导致的对隐私的侵犯亦引发了越来越广泛的关注，比如不久前对索尼的网络攻击。

The British novelist Hari Kunzru, a member of English PEN currently living in New York, said fears of government surveillance were a significant concern, even if the information being gathered was not necessarily being put to improper use by officials.

英国笔会成员、现居纽约的英国小说家哈里·孔兹鲁(Hari Kunzru)表示，虽然官方搜集的信息未必是作不恰当用途，但对政府监控的忧虑依旧令人不安。

“The feeling that the Internet is looking over your shoulder is now universal,” he said. “But it’s the government that has the techniques and tools to look in at will.”

“现在，互联网严密监视着你是一种普遍的感觉，”他说，“但政府有各种技术各种方法，随心所欲地进行窥探。”

He added, “We are really putting into place a system that might be used by more tyrannically inclined governments in the future.”

他又补充，“我们正在把有着更为专制倾向的政府未来可能会采用的一种体系付诸实施。”

The survey found that mass surveillance by the United States government had damaged its reputation as a defender of free expression, with some 36 percent in other “free” countries and 32 percent in “less free” countries saying freedom of expression had less protection in the United States than in their nations.

调查还发现，美国政府的大规模监控行为，损害了它作为言论自由捍卫者的声誉，在“自由”国家类别下大约36%的调查对象、“部分自由”国家类别下32%的调查对象表示，美国对于言论自由的保护不及自己所在的国家。

The 2013 PEN survey of American writers provoked some comment that writers’ fears were overblown, and there was little evidence that the American government took particular interest in the communications of writers.

2013年美国笔会在美国作家中所做的调查，也引发一些评论，认为作家的担忧夸大了，没有什么证据表明美国政府对于作家间的交流有着特别的兴趣。

But Ms. Nossel said that subjective perceptions of surveillance matter, particularly among those who rely on freedom of expression as “their lifeblood.”

但诺塞尔女士表示，对于监控的主观感受事关重大，尤其是在那些视言论自由为“命根子”的人当中。

“Just the fact that so many writers say they are deeply concerned and are actually changing their behavior is significant,” she said. “Whether we consider it justified or not, it isn’t something that should be ignored.”

“事实上有这么多的作家声称他们对此深表关切，而且有那么多人因此而变得谨慎，”她说道，“不管我们认为这合不合理，它都不应该遭到忽视。”