Italian students will soon tackle work sheets with a list of what amounts to a new set of Ten Commandments for the digital age.

Among them: Thou shalt not share unverified news; thou shall ask for sources and evidence; thou shall remember that the internet and social networks can be manipulated.

義大利學生很快就要寫一份習題，習題中列舉的東西相當於數位時代的新十誡。

其中包括：不可分享未經證實的消息；要求來源與證據；記住網路和社群網站可以被操縱。

The lessons, prepared by reporters from the national broadcaster RAI, are part of an extraordinary experiment by the Italian government, in cooperation with leading digital companies including Facebook, to train a generation of students steeped in social media how to recognize fake news and conspiracy theories online.

“Fake news drips drops of poison into our daily web diet and we end up infected without even realizing it,” said Laura Boldrini, the president of the Italian lower house of Parliament, who has spearheaded the project with the Italian Ministry of Education.

這些課題由國家廣播公司「義大利廣播電視公司」的記者擬訂，是義大利政府與臉書等一線數位公司合作進行的一場特殊實驗的一環，要訓練被社群媒體包圍的這一代學子認出網路上的假新聞和陰謀論。

義大利眾議院議長勞拉．博爾德里尼與義大利教育部共同主導這個計畫，她說：「假新聞在我們每天消化的網路資訊中滴下毒藥，結果我們中毒了還不知道。」

“It's only right to give these kids the possibility to defend themselves from lies,” said Boldrini, who is left-leaning but not affiliated with any political party. The initiative will be rolled out in 8,000 high schools across the country starting on Oct. 31.

Italy, of course, is not alone in trying to find a way to grapple with the global proliferation of propaganda that has sown public confusion and undermined the credibility of powerful institutions.

博爾德里尼說：「讓孩子有機會保護自己不受騙，才是對的。」她的政治立場左傾，卻不屬於任何政黨。這個計畫將從10月31日起在全國各地8000所中學推行。

宣傳言詞在全球擴散，讓大眾疑惑並損害權威機構的公信力，義大利企圖解決這個問題，當然它並不孤單。

Pope Francis recently announced that he would dedicate his 2018 World Communications Day address to the topic of fake news, and the U.S. Congress is investigating how Russian agents manipulated Facebook and Twitter to spread false stories and stoke conspiracy theories to sway the 2016 presidential election.

But before crucial Italian elections early next year, the country has become an especially fertile ground for digital deceit. Frustrated by economic woes, upset by a migrant crisis and fed a steady diet of partisan media, many Italians subscribe to all kinds of conspiracy theories.

Boldrini, sponsor of the new student curriculum, asserts the government must teach the next generation of Italian voters how to defend themselves against falsehoods and conspiracy theories.

教宗方濟各最近宣布，他的2018年世界社會傳播日演說將以假新聞為主題，而美國國會正在調查俄國特工如何用臉書和推特散播假消息並煽動陰謀論，以影響2016年總統大選。

不過，在義大利明年初重要選舉前，這個國家已成數位詐欺大溫床。許多義大利人為經濟所苦，為移民危機心煩，常接觸的媒體又充斥黨派偏見，不免對各式各樣陰謀論照單全收。

博爾德里尼是這個學生新課程的發起人，她堅決主張政府應教導下一代義大利選民保護自己，不要誤信謊言和陰謀論。

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文／張佑生

本文一開頭就搬出聖經當中的十誡（the Ten Commandments），並模仿其語法，thou shalt是古英文的用法，現代則用you shall，thou的對應中文可用「汝」。聖經還有Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.的記載（汝當愛鄰如己）

義大利的學校從新學期開始要教學生辨識網路上的假新聞（fake news）跟陰謀論（conspiracy theories）。Fake有以假亂真、魚目混珠的意思（fake fur/pearls/leather）。詐騙集團猖獗跟真假難辨有關：It's no wonder scammers do so well when it's so hard to tell the real from the fake.

不僅新聞，連死亡都可以造假，faked one's own death是詐死或者皮笑肉不笑（a fake smile）。警察合唱團（The Police）1983年的冠軍金曲Every Breath You Take（妳的一顰一笑）唱道：Every smile you fake...

Conspiracy theory通譯為「陰謀論」，意指相信某一群人暗中圖謀傷害某人或做某事，會用這個詞通常表示說話者並不相信此類講法。1963年美國總統甘迺迪遇刺案（JFK assassination）最後一批檔案剛解密，紐約時報用the granddaddy of all conspiracy theories形容本案（所有陰謀論的開山祖師），應不為過。況且，There will always be conspiracy theorists and liars in public life.

A young woman, wearing a traditional full-length Amish dress and white bonnet, stepped away from a farmers market, opened her palm and revealed a smartphone. She began to scroll through screens, seemingly oblivious to the activity around her.

Not far away, a man in his late 60s with a silvery beard, wide-brimmed straw hat and suspenders adjusted the settings on a computer-driven crosscut saw. He was soon cutting pieces for gazebos that are sold online and delivered around the country.

一名穿著艾美許傳統長衣裙、戴白色帽子的年輕女子，從一個農民市集走出來，她張開手掌，露出一支智慧型手機。她開始滑手機螢幕，似乎對四周的活動渾然不覺。

不遠處，一名年近70、蓄銀白山羊鬍、頭戴寬邊草帽、穿吊帶褲的男子，調整了電腦控制的橫切鋸的設定。他即將切割木料以製作涼亭，成品在網路上銷售，運送到全國各地。

The Amish have not given up on horse-drawn buggies. Their rigid abstinence from many kinds of technology has left parts of their lifestyle frozen since the 19th century: no cars, TVs or connections to electric utilities, for example.

But computers and cellphones are making their way into some Amish communities, pushing them — sometimes willingly, often not — into the 21st century.

艾美許人沒有放棄馬車。他們嚴格戒絕多種科技產品，以致部分生活方式停留在19世紀：例如，沒有汽車、電視或與電力公司的連結。

然而，電腦和手機正打入一些艾美許人的社區，把他們推進21世紀──他們有時候甘願如此，但通常不是。

New technology has created fresh opportunities for prosperity among the Amish, just as it has for people in the rest of the world. A contractor can call a customer from a job site. A store owner’s software can make quick work of payroll and inventory tasks. A bakery can take credit cards.

But for people bound by a separation from much of the outside world, new tech devices have brought fears about the consequence of internet access. There are worries about pornography; about whether social networks will lead sons and daughters to date non-Amish friends; and about connecting to a world of seemingly limitless possibilities.

就和世上其他人一樣，艾美許人也因新科技而獲得發達的新機會。包商可以從工地打電話給業主。商店老闆的軟體可以快速處理有關薪水和盤點的工作。麵包店可以收受信用卡。

不過，對於藉由與大部分外在世界隔絕而凝聚在一起的人來說，新科技裝置帶來對於上網後果的恐懼。擔心網路色情人侵；擔心社群網站會讓兒女與非艾美許人的朋友約會；擔心與一個似乎有無限可能的世界接觸。

“Amish life is about recognizing the value of agreed-upon limits,” said Erik Wesner, an author who runs a blog, Amish America, “and the spirit of the internet cuts against the idea of limits.”

John, who works a computerized saw at Amish Country Gazebos near Lancaster, Pennsylvania, likened it to the prohibition on automobiles.

經營「艾美許的美國」部落格的作者艾瑞克．韋斯納說：「艾美許人生活的基礎是認可大家同意的限制的價值，而網路的精神與限制的概念牴觸。」

在賓州蘭開斯特市附近的「艾美許鄉村涼亭」商店用電腦化鋸子的約翰，用不准使用汽車來打比方。

“Not using cars is a way of keeping us together,” he said. (Like most of the people interviewed for this article, he declined to give his surname, out of an Amish sense of humility; many refrained from having their faces photographed for the same reason.)

“There’s always a concern about what would lead our young folk out of the church and into the world,” John added.

The internet also threatens another Amish bonding agent: For a society in which formal education ends after eighth grade, youngsters learn a trade or craft alongside a relative or other member of the community.

他說：「不用汽車是讓我們凝聚在一起的一種方式。」（如同這篇報導訪問的大多數人，他不願透露他的姓氏，出於艾美許人的謙遜；許多人基於相同理由不願意讓人拍攝他們的臉。）

約翰接著說：「會引導我們的年輕人走出教堂，走進世界的東西，總是讓人們不安。」

網路也威脅到艾美許人的另一種粘著劑：這個社會裡的正式教育在八年級之後結束，年輕人跟著一位親戚或社群的其他成員學習一門行當或一種手藝。