譯/莊蕙嘉
黑暗新興產業 找網紅發假訊息
In May, several French and German social media influencers received a strange proposal.
幾個法國和德國的社群網紅，5月時收到一份怪異的提案。
A London-based public relations agency wanted to pay them to promote messages on behalf of a client. A polished three-page document detailed what to say and on which platforms to say it.
一家位於倫敦的公關公司想付費給他們，為一名客戶推廣訊息。字句精練的三頁文件詳細交代要說什麼，以及在哪個平台上說。
But it asked the influencers to push not beauty products or vacation packages, as is typical, but falsehoods tarring Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine. Stranger still, the agency, Fazze, claimed a London address where there is no evidence any such company exists.
但是它要求網紅推銷的不是典型的美容產品或套裝旅遊，而是抹黑輝瑞BNT新冠疫苗的不實訊息。更怪的是，這家名叫Fazze的公司雖宣稱有倫敦地址，當地卻沒這家公司存在的證據。
The scheme appears to be part of a secretive industry that security analysts and U.S. officials say is exploding in scale: disinformation for hire.
這個計畫看起來像是安全專家和美國官員所說，正在大規模擴張的祕密產業一部分：雇傭傳播假訊息。
Private firms, straddling traditional marketing and the shadow world of geopolitical influence operations, are selling services once conducted principally by intelligence agencies.
私人公司跨越傳統行銷和地緣政治影響力行動的陰暗世界，正販售過去主要由情報機構執行的服務。
"Disinfo-for-hire actors being employed by government or government-adjacent actors is growing and serious," said Graham Brookie, director of the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab, calling it "a boom industry."
大西洋理事會「數位鑑識研究實驗室」主任葛拉罕．布魯奇說，「受政府或政府相關單位雇用傳播假訊息的人，正不斷增加且日趨嚴重」，這是個「繁榮產業」。
For-hire disinformation, though only sometimes effective, is growing more sophisticated as practitioners iterate and learn. Experts say it is becoming more common in every part of the world, outpacing operations conducted directly by governments.
受雇傳播假訊息固然僅偶爾有效，但在執行者反覆學習之下變得更精妙。專家說，這項產業變得在世界每個角落更普遍，勝過政府直接進行的任務。
The trend emerged after the Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018, experts say. Cambridge, a political consulting firm linked to members of Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, was found to have harvested data on millions of Facebook users.
專家說，這個趨勢在2018年的劍橋分析醜聞後興起。這家政治顧問公司和川普2016年總統大選競選活動的成員有關聯，被發現收集數百萬名臉書用戶數據。
Cambridge used its data to target hyperspecific audiences with tailored messages. It tested what resonated by tracking likes and shares.
劍橋分析利用數據，以量身訂做的訊息來針對極端特定受眾，它利用追蹤「讚」和「分享」測試哪些訊息獲得反應。
The episode taught a generation of consultants and opportunists that there was big money in social media marketing for political causes, all disguised as organic activity.
這起事件讓同一世代的顧問和機會主義者學到，出於政治因素、偽裝成自然活動的社群媒體行銷大有錢景。
Some newcomers eventually reached the same conclusion as Russian operatives had in 2016: Disinformation performs especially well on social platforms.
一些新進者最終也獲得和俄羅斯人員在2016年得到的相同結論：假訊息在社群平台上表現得特別好。
At the same time, backlash to Russia's influence-peddling appeared to have left governments wary of being caught — while also demonstrating the power of such operations.
同時，對俄國操弄影響力的反彈，顯然讓政府在展示這類行動的力量時，也擔憂會被抓個正著。
"There is, unfortunately, a huge market demand for disinformation," Brookie said, "and a lot of places across the ecosystem that are more than willing to fill that demand."
「不幸的是，對於假訊息有巨大的市場需求。」布魯奇說，「而這個生態系的許多地方非常樂於滿足這項需求。」
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