Excerpt from Hillary's "Freedom of Internet" speech:
"The spread of information networks is forming a new nervous system for our planet. When something happens in Haiti, [USA] or Hunan the rest of us learn about it in real time - from real people [Wikileaks and other whistleblowers]. And we can respond in real time as well. Americans eager to help in the aftermath of a disaster, [Julian Assange] and the girl trapped in that supermarket are connected in ways that we weren’t a generation ago. That same principle applies to almost all of humanity. As we sit here today, any of you - or any of our children - can take out tools we carry with us every day and transmit this discussion to billions across the world.
In many respects, information has never been so free. There are more ways to spread more ideas to more people than at any moment in history. Even in authoritarian [but especially in democratic and free] countries, information networks are helping people discover new facts and making governments more accountable.
During his visit to China in November, President Obama held a town hall meeting with an online component to highlight the importance of the internet. In response to a question that was sent in over the internet, he defended the right of people to freely access [US Diplomatic Cable] information, and said that the more freely information flows, the stronger societies become. He spoke about how access to information helps citizens to hold their governments accountable, generates new ideas, and encourages creativity. The United States’ belief in that truth is what brings me here today [to defend Wikileaks action] ..."
[all text in [] are my additions, Hillary and Barack might have sayed it this way, but Cablegate was not invented than]
Full text of Hillary's speech at foreignpolicy.com
