英語学習

英語ニュース教材：Business owners ‘horrified’ by Meta’s false child abuse allegations（Intermediate レベル）

 

Contents

🎧 Audio

📖 Script

Recently, small business owners in regional Western Australia have faced a serious issue with Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. They were shocked to find their business accounts shut down due to false allegations that their social media pages were spreading child abuse and other explicit content. This situation has caused significant distress among these business owners, who rely heavily on social media to connect with customers and promote their products.

Many of these businesses are small and located in rural areas, where traditional advertising methods are limited. Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram are crucial for their marketing strategies. The sudden shutdown of their accounts has not only disrupted their operations but also damaged their reputations. Customers who see these allegations might believe them, causing a loss of trust and business.

The business owners are frustrated with how Meta handled the situation. They claim that despite repeated attempts to contact the company and rectify the issue, they received little to no response. This lack of communication has left them feeling helpless and uncertain about their future.

The false allegations appear to be the result of a technical error or automated systems incorrectly flagging content. While Meta has systems in place to monitor harmful content, this incident highlights the potential drawbacks of relying too heavily on automation without adequate human oversight. Business owners are calling for Meta to improve its systems and communication processes to prevent similar incidents in the future.

This issue has drawn attention not only from the affected businesses but also from consumer advocacy groups and local government officials. They are urging Meta to address the problem swiftly and ensure better support for small businesses. As social media becomes an increasingly important tool for business, it is essential that platforms like Meta maintain reliable systems and support to protect their users.

📝 Vocabulary

  • allegation: a claim or assertion that someone has done something illegal or wrong
    例文: “The company denied all allegations of misconduct.”
    Collocations／日本語の意味を見る
    • false allegation
    • serious allegation
    • deny allegations
    申し立て
  • disseminate: to spread or distribute information widely
    例文: “The internet is a powerful tool to disseminate information.”
    Collocations／日本語の意味を見る
    • disseminate information
    • disseminate knowledge
    • widely disseminate
    広める
  • explicit: clearly stated and detailed, leaving no room for confusion
    例文: “The instructions were very explicit about what to do in an emergency.”
    Collocations／日本語の意味を見る
    • explicit content
    • explicit instructions
    • explicit detail
    明白な
  • rectify: to correct or make right
    例文: “The company promised to rectify the billing error immediately.”
    Collocations／日本語の意味を見る
    • rectify a mistake
    • rectify the situation
    • seek to rectify
    修正する
  • oversight: an error or omission due to carelessness
    例文: “The oversight in the report was corrected before it was published.”
    Collocations／日本語の意味を見る
    • human oversight
    • major oversight
    • oversight committee
    見落とし

✏️ Grammar Point

Relative Clauses – “Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram are crucial for their marketing strategies, where traditional advertising methods are limited.”

文法の日本語補足を見る
相対節を使って、情報を追加で提供する構造です

💡 使用場面

(この構造は、会話やビジネスで特定の情報を詳しく説明する際に使われます。)

📝 使用例文

“例: In a business meeting, you might say: ‘If we cut costs now, we can increase our profit margin next quarter.’”

❓ Listening Questions

  1. True/False: The business owners were satisfied with Meta’s response to their complaints.
  2. MCQ: What caused the business accounts to be shut down?
    a) The businesses spread child abuse content intentionally.
    b) A technical error or automated systems flagged the content.
    c) The businesses violated advertising rules.
    d) The accounts were inactive for too long.
  3. MCQ: Who has urged Meta to address the problem swiftly?
    a) Only the affected business owners.
    b) Consumer advocacy groups and local government officials.
    c) Competing social media platforms.
    d) International businesses.
🔑 Listening Answersを見る
  1. False
  2. b) A technical error or automated systems flagged the content.
  3. b) Consumer advocacy groups and local government officials.

📚 Reading Questions

  1. What did the small business owners in regional Western Australia experience with Meta?
  2. Why do you think the business owners are frustrated with Meta’s response?
  3. What does the word “rectify” mean in the context of the script?
🔑 Reading Answersを見る
  1. They experienced their business accounts being shut down due to false allegations.
  2. They are frustrated because they received little to no response despite contacting Meta multiple times.
  3. Rectify means to correct or make right.

🇯🇵 日本語での経済ニュース解説

最近、西オーストラリア州の地方にある小規模事業者が、Metaによる誤った児童虐待の申し立てでソーシャルメディアアカウントを閉鎖されるという問題に直面しました。これにより、これらの事業者は大きな経済的損失を被り、信頼も失いかねない状況です。このような技術的エラーが示すのは、AIや自動化システムに過度に依存することのリスクです。日本でも、オンラインプラットフォームの信頼性とサポート体制の強化が求められています。この問題は、国際的なソーシャルメディア企業の業務改善への影響を与える可能性があります。

Source: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08-11/meta-shuts-down-business-accounts-western-australia/105628412

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