Constrained Twitting

When Obama had a question-and-answer at a town hall meeting in Shanghai, the control of the media by the Chinese government was fully demonstrated.  The meeting, unlike when other American presidents visited in the past, was not broadcast.  The children at the meeting who were asking the questions were hand picked by the government and most were Communist Youth.  Seriously, what a contrast from our society where information is free and nearly always accessible.  

It is easy for us to take advantage of our amazing system, a system that strengthens our people and our democracy.

A girl asked if she should be able to twitter freely, and he told the students that a free and unfettered Internet is a source of strength not weakness.

"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," Obama said.  
Surprisingly, the government kept the twitter comment on the website for hours after the meeting.