紐時賞析／仿效全球獨裁者 川普威脅廣電業者

Threatening Broadcasters, Trump Takes a Page From the World’s Autocrats

仿效全球獨裁者 川普威脅廣電業者

A comedian steps onto the stage and makes a joke or barbed comment that offends a powerful leader. Or maybe it’s a cartoon or television program that pushes buttons.

一名喜劇演員步上舞台，講了一個笑話或帶刺的評論，或許能是引發爭議的一部動畫或電視節目。

Regardless, the targets and their ilk accuse the creators and their bosses of violating moral standards and national virtues. Then the state cracks down. Authorities issue threats, exert financial pressure and hint at shutdowns as the humorists hire lawyers, executives cower, and everyone learns the obvious: Nothing negative or embarrassing will be allowed about the government or its friends.

無論如何，目標對象及其類似者指控創作者及其上司違反社會道德標準和國家的道德旗幟後，國家進行打壓。當幽默創作者聘請律師、主管畏縮時，當局發出威脅、施加財務壓力並暗示可能關閉，大家都學到一個明顯的道理：任何針對政府或其盟友的負面或令人尷尬的內容都不被允許。

Those who live in China, India, Iran, Russia, Turkey and Venezuela are familiar with this scenario. Each is governed with various levels of authoritarianism; all have seen comedians, broadcasters, journalists and cartoonists squeezed toward silence.

那些生活在中國大陸、印度、伊朗、俄國、土耳其與委內瑞拉的人熟悉這種場景。每個國家都受不同程度的權威主義統治；全都目睹喜劇演員、廣播員、記者與漫畫家被被迫保持沉默。

Now President Donald Trump, with his threat Thursday to revoke broadcasting licenses from networks with late-night hosts who make jokes or comments at his expense, has pushed the United States closer to that club. With lawsuits against media companies, cuts to public broadcasting, and threats to rescind licenses or deny mergers while rewarding friendlier outlets, Trump’s tactics fit a disturbing global pattern.

現在，川普總統於周四威脅撤銷那些晚間節目主持人取笑或批評他的電視網的播送執照，這使美國愈來愈接近那些威權國家的行列。藉由對媒體企業提起訴訟，威脅吊銷執照或否決併購案、同時獎勵態度友好的媒體，川普的戰術符合一種令人不安的全球模式。

“Controlling information and media is the one of the early and necessary steps of the authoritarian,” said Jennifer McCoy, a professor of political science at Georgia State University who studies the deterioration of democracy. “Then, repressing dissent and criticism, not just among the media, but among political opponents and citizens follows.”

研究民主衰落的喬治亞州立大學政治學教授麥柯伊說，「控制信息和媒體是威權統治者早期且必要的步驟之一，接著是壓制異議與批評，不只針對媒體，也針對政治對手與公民」。

No expert or organization that tracks free expression is comparing Trump to the world’s greatest violators. The worst authoritarian regimes have murdered critics and imprisoned anyone deemed questionable. Many dictators shut down newspapers and seized television networks when they came to power.

追蹤言論自由的專家或組織還未將川普與全球最嚴重的侵犯者相提並論。最糟糕的威權政權謀殺批評者，監禁任何被認定有問題的人。許多獨裁者掌權後關閉報紙並奪取電視網路。

But the United States has historically been a defender of free speech, and the tactics Trump has embraced — suggesting that only presidentially approved opinions are valid and protected — place the United States in awkward company.

但美國歷來是言論自由的捍衛者，而川普擁抱的戰術：暗示只有總統認可的意見才是有效受保護的，將美國置於尷尬的處境。

Freedom of expression is deteriorating in America and 43 other countries, a quarter of the world’s nations, according to the 2025 Democracy Report issued by the Swedish-based V-Dem Institute. That’s up from 35 a year earlier, and the institute says the problem has been getting worse for at least a decade.

根據瑞典「多元民主中心」發布的「2025年民主報告」，美國與其他43個國家的言論自由正在惡化，占全球國家總數約4分之1。這個數字較一年前的35個加上升，該研究所說至少過去10年以來該問題持續在惡化。

In democracies and dictatorships, those who bundle their critiques with humor have become frequent targets.

無論民主國家還是獨裁國家，將批評與幽默結合的人已經成為常見的攻擊目標。

文／Damien Cave，譯／江昱蓁