Earlier this week, Sony made the controversial call to cancel the release of its North Korea-set comedy The Interview over terroristic threats made by hackers. In a press conference today, President Obama called Sony's decision a "mistake."
"Sony is a corporation," said President Obama. "It suffered significant damage. There were threats against its employees. I am sympathetic to the concerns that they faced. Having said all that, yes, I think they made a mistake."
"We cannot have a society in which some dictator someplace can start imposing censorship here in the United States," he continued. "Because if somebody is able to intimidate folks out of releasing a satirical movie, imagine what they start doing when they see a documentary they don't like. Or news reports 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 someone whose sensibilities probably need to be offended. That's not who we are. That's what America is about."
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"Again, I'm sympathetic that Sony, as a private company, is worried about liabilities, and this, and that, and the other," Obama continued. "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.'"
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