"I can tell you that in the United States, the fact that we have free Internet — or unrestricted Internet access is a source of strength, and I think should be encouraged. Now, I should tell you, I should be honest, as President of the United States, there are times where I wish information didn't flow so freely because then I wouldn't have to listen to people criticizing me all the time. I think people naturally are — when they're in positions of power sometimes thinks, oh, how could that person say that about me, or that's irresponsible, or — but the truth is that because in the United States information is free, and I have a lot of critics in the United States who can say all kinds of things about me, I actually think that that makes our democracy stronger and it makes me a better leader because it forces me to hear opinions that I don't want to hear. It forces me to examine what I'm doing on a day-to-day basis to see, am I really doing the very best that I could be doing for the people of the United States. And I think the Internet has become an even more powerful tool for that kind of citizen participation."
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Democratic Party (United States) politiciansColumbia University alumniAutobiographers from the United StatesAfrican AmericansHarvard University alumni
Original Language: English
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Sources
Interview in Shanghai, as quoted in China Daily (17 November 2009)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Barack_Obama
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Barack Obama
politician, lawyer, political writer
1961 · United States
1215 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Barack Obama →
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