【新唐人2009年11月17日訊】歐巴馬關於twitter和gfw的錄音（中英文）
歐巴馬：
好吧，我現在請我的洪大使，現在有一個網民通過我們使館網站提了一個問題。
[洪博培]
第一，有這麼多互聯網使用者的國家，有6000萬寫博客的人，你知道防火牆的事情嗎?第二，我們是不是應該自由的使用TWITTER?
歐巴馬:
首先讓我說，我從來沒有使用過TWITTER。我注意到一些年輕人，他們一直很忙，有各種各樣的電子器材，很笨重。但是我還是非常相信技術的作用，非常重視開放性。在信息流動方面，我認為越是能夠自由的信息流通，社會就變得越強，因為這樣子，世界各地的公民能讓自己的政府負責，有一個問責制度，他們自己會思考，這樣會有新的想法，鼓勵創造性。所以我一直是堅定的支持互聯網開放的使用，我是非常支持不審查內容，在美國我過去談過，這是我們的一個傳統，我也認識到不同的國家有不同的傳統，但是我可以告訴各位，在美國，我們有沒有受限制的使用互聯網的機會，這是我們力量的來源，也應該受到鼓勵的。
但是我也應該很誠實的告訴各位，作為美國總統，有的時候我還是希望信息不是那麼自由的流通，因為這樣我就不需要聽到人們在批評我，我認為很自然的。
在人處於一個實力地位的時候就會想到，你為甚麼這樣說我，你這樣說是很不負責的。可是真實的情況是這樣，因為在美國信息是自由的，因為在美國有很多人批評我說各種各樣的事情，但我還是認為，這樣才會使得我們的民族制度變得更強，使我變成一個更好的領導人，因為它迫使我聽到一些我不願意聽到的意見，也迫使我審查我正在做的事情，每天都要審查，要看我是不是真的為美國人民做我能做的最好的事情。所以我認為互聯網現在已經變成一個更強的工具，可以讓公民來參與。
實際上，我這次勝選，當了總統的一個原因之一我們能夠動員很多年輕人，通過互聯網來動員。剛開始的時候，沒有人會想到我會贏，因為我們不是得到最富裕的支持者、政治上最有權利的人支持我們，可是人們通過互聯網看到我們競選，他們開始感到很興奮，他們就組織起來成立一些競選的活動、事件和集會，結果就產生了這些從下往上的一種行動，使我們很成功。
這不僅在政府和政治，在企業界一樣。像Google這種公司，不到20年前，它只是兩個年齡跟你們差不多一樣的人創業，本來是科學的實驗，後來因為互聯網，他們能夠創造一個產業，這個產業使得全世界各地的商業發生一場革命。
所以要不是有很自由的開放性，就像互聯網所提供的開放性，那Google不會存在，所以我很支持一個做法，就是不要限制互聯網的使用、接觸或者像 TWITTER這種信息技術，越開放越能夠溝通，使全世界聯繫在一起。像我的兩個女兒瑪麗亞和娜塔莎，一個是11歲，一個是8歲，在她們的房間可以上網，通過互聯網可以達到世界任何地方，可以學到她們想學的內容，這是她們巨大的力量，她們擁有這種力量，也有利於促進相互理解。
就像我剛才所說的，技術也有負面，恐怖份子也可以通過互聯網做一些以前他們做不到的事情，有一些極端分子也可以動員。當然開放性肯定要付出某種代價，這是不能否認的。可是我想好的遠遠多於壞的，所以還是要保持開放是好的，這是我很高興互聯網也作為這個論壇的一部分。最後兩個問題。
PRESIDENT OBAMA:
Okay. All right? Jon — I’m going to call on my Ambassador because I think he has a question that was generated through the Web site of our embassy. This was selected, though, by I think one of the members of our U.S. press corps so that —
AMBASSADOR HUNTSMAN: That’s right. And not surprisingly, “in a country with 350 million Internet users and 60 million bloggers, do you know of the firewall?" And second, “should we be able to use Twitter freely" — is the question.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, first of all, let me say that I have never used Twitter. I noticed that young people — they’re very busy with all these electronics. My thumbs are too clumsy to type in things on the phone. But I am a big believer in technology and I’m a big believer in openness when it comes to the flow of information. I think that the more freely information flows, the stronger the society becomes, because then citizens of countries around the world can hold their own governments accountable. They can begin to think for themselves. That generates new ideas. It encourages creativity.
And so I’ve always been a strong supporter of open Internet use. I’m a big supporter of non-censorship. This is part of the tradition of the United States that I discussed before, and I recognize that different countries have different traditions. 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. In fact, one of the reasons that I won the presidency was because we were able to mobilize young people like yourself to get involved through the Internet. Initially, nobody thought we could win because we didn’t have necessarily the most wealthy supporters; we didn’t have the most powerful political brokers. But through the Internet, people became excited about our campaign and they started to organize and meet and set up campaign activities and events and rallies. And it really ended up creating the kind of bottom-up movement that allowed us to do very well.
Now, that’s not just true in — for government and politics. It’s also true for business. You think about a company like Google that only 20 years ago was — less than 20 years ago was the idea of a couple of people not much older than you. It was a science project. And suddenly because of the Internet, they were able to create an industry that has revolutionized commerce all around the world. So if it had not been for the freedom and the openness that the Internet allows, Google wouldn’t exist.
So I’m a big supporter of not restricting Internet use, Internet access, other information technologies like Twitter. The more open we are, the more we can communicate. And it also helps to draw the world together.
Think about — when I think about my daughters, Malia and Sasha — one is 11, one is 8 — from their room, they can get on the Internet and they can travel to Shanghai. They can go anyplace in the world and they can learn about anything they want to learn about. And that’s just an enormous power that they have. And that helps, I think, promote the kind of understanding that we talked about.
Now, as I said before, there’s always a downside to technology. It also means that terrorists are able to organize on the Internet in ways that they might not have been able to do before. Extremists can mobilize. And so there’s some price that you pay for openness, there’s no denying that. But I think that the good outweighs the bad so much that it’s better to maintain that openness. And that’s part of why I’m so glad that the Internet was part of this forum. Okay?
I’m going to take two more questions. And the next one is from a gentleman, I think. Right here, yes. Here’s the microphone.