Obama explains why Sony’s ‘mistake’ could spark a spiral of self-censorship

During a press conference today, President Barack Obama spoke eloquently and somewhat chillingly about the implications of Sony’s decision to pull The Interview from theaters. After learning that North Korea was, in fact, responsible for the cyberattack that leaked embarrassing Sony information, Obama said that the decision to pull the movie was a “mistake”.

When a president unequivocally criticizes a major corporation, this makes headlines. But it was Obama’s rant afterwards that seemed most chilling. He said, in no uncertain terms, that other organizations and citizens could follow Sony, causing a dangerous spiral of self-censorship

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“We cannot have a society in which some dictator some place can start imposing censorship here in the United States. Because if somebody is able to intimidate folks out of releasing a satirical movie, imagine what they start doing when they start seeing a documentary they don’t like, or news reports that they don’t like.

Or, even worse, imagine if producers and distributors and others start engaging in self-censorship because they don’t want to offend the sensibilities of somebody whose sensibilities probably need to be offended. That’s not who we are. That’s not what America is about. Again, I’m sympathetic that Sony as a private company was worried about liabilities and this, that, and the other. I wish they had spoken to me first. I would have told them: Do not get into a pattern in which you’re intimidated by these kinds of criminal attacks.

The issue of voluntary self-censorship is not new to the tech industry. After a controversial film about the Prophet Mohammad sparked violent protests around the world, Google was asked to remove it from YouTube. Ironically enough, the White House also asked Google to remove the film. Google ultimately rejected the request.

As tech companies increasingly become content providers, they will have to resist the violent threats from nations and cultures that demand censorship. While Sony may have details about the threats the public does not know, its decision sends a dangerous message to the rest of the world — a decision that will hopefully not be followed by the tech industry.