Years ago, one had to wait days or weeks to receive a letter or news from across the world. Now, everything is at the click of a mouse.

几年前，人们往往要等上几天甚至数周才能收到来自世界另一边的消息。但是现在，只要鼠标点一点就能解决一切。

But the Internet has also created a culture of idiots and trolls who believe they’re not subject to any moral standards when they give an opinion or comment on something.

但是互联网也创造了一种“键盘”文化，键盘侠们认为自己在就某事发表意见、作出评论是时候不受任何道德标准的约束。

Since there’s a screen to protect them, they believe they aren’t bound by the laws of any nation. That couldn’t be furthest from the truth.

因为隔着一条网线，所以他们认为自己可以不受任何国家的法律约束，而这大错特错。

Cowards leave comments that are outright¹ sexist, ageist, racist², mean or cruel. I was reading an article about the terrorist attack that happened in Florida a couple of months ago and had to stop reading the comment section. The people who left comments were without any sense of dignity or humanity.

键盘侠们喜欢到处留评论，而那些不过是一些彻头彻尾的性别歧视、年龄歧视、种族歧视、尖酸刻薄的言语罢了。我在阅读一篇关于佛州几个月前发生的恐袭文章时，评论区让我难以继续读下去。留下那些评论的人们完全不懂什么是尊严和人性。

You had literal posts like, "The people who died probably deserved it" and "Who cares!" The comments made me sick to my stomach and made me wonder at the inhumanity of people or an entire generation for that matter.

这些评论让我很恶心——“死的人都是罪有应得!”、“关我X事!”我甚至都因此怀疑起了人性。

These are individuals who feel a sense of entitlement and believe they can be outright cruel to others based on their right to be anonymous³ on the Internet.

这些人认为由于在网上没人知道自己是谁，他们就可以为所欲为地摧残别人。

I still believe that the Internet is a great tool for learning, but it shouldn’t become a tool of hate. It shouldn’t be a place to say or post whatever you want without any consequence⁴ or backlash. When somebody posts something racist or sexist, they ought to be held liable for it. Individuals shouldn’t tread on the rights of others. I don’t believe in persecution⁵ for saying what you want, but I do believe in prosecution⁶ for hurting others and being a bullying⁷ bigoted⁸ animal!

我仍然相信互联网是学习的好工具，但它却不应该成为一个仇恨的工具。互联网不应成为一个人们不考虑后果就肆意妄为的地方。当有人发表种族歧视和性别歧视言论的时候，他们就应该为此负责。人们不应践踏他人的权利。我不认为畅所欲言的人会受到迫害，但是我却坚信伤害欺凌别人的人应该受到惩罚。

Another piece of news that sickened me was the four Chicago teenagers who beat up and tortured another young kid who is mentally challenged. These same idiots later posted their hate crime on the Web.

另一个让我感到恶心的新闻是，芝加哥四个青少年殴打折磨另一个患有心理疾病的孩子。这些人后来还在网上发表了仇恨言论。

The judge said it perfectly⁹ when he asked them, "Where’s your sense of decency¹⁰?" in court after their arrest.

他们被捕之后受审之时。法官一句话说得很好：“你们的尊严呢?”

What’s happening to our world? It not where we’re from or the color of our skin that matters, it’s the color of our hearts. Sadly, what I’m seeing on the Internet is a group of cold people with hearts of stone. All I’m saying is, "Let’s stop and think before we say something that might hurt others down the road!"

这个世界到底怎么了?我们来自哪里、我们肤色如何并不重要，重要的是我们的心。但可悲的是，互联网上满目望去只是一群冷酷的人。我想说的是：“在我们说出伤害别人的话语之前，先停下来好好想一想。”