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Former President Barack Obama has sparked concern over his recent comments about online speech, revealing a controversial viewpoint that many critics find alarming.

Obama expressed his belief that the government should play a role in establishing “restraints” on what content can be shared online, in an effort to curb the spread of “disinformation” and “misinformation.”

During a June 17, 2025 discussion with historian and author Heather Cox Richardson at The Connecticut Forum, Obama shared his thoughts on the current state of public discourse and the growing challenge of separating fact from fiction.

“I’ve said this before, but I always repeat it. You and I can have an opinion about this little side table. You know, you might not like the design, you might not like the color or how it’s finished, but we can have that discussion,” former President Obama said.

“If I say to you this is a lawnmower, you’ll think I’m crazy. And if I really believe it, I’ll think you’re crazy. And we’re now in a situation in which we are having these just basic factual arguments,” he said to the historian.

He then described how this erosion of basic truth contributes to widespread distrust and can be manipulated by powerful figures.

“And that further undermines trust. And those in power, those with money, exploit that space in which nobody knows what’s true. Vladimir Putin and the KGB had a saying that was then adopted proudly by Steve Bannon, which was if you want propaganda to be effective, you don’t have to convince people that what you are saying is true,” he said as he attempted to make his case.

“You just have to flood the zone with so much poop. They use a different word. But you have to flood the zone with so much untruth, constantly, that at some point people don’t believe anything,” noted Obama.

He continued, drawing a pointed parallel to recent American political dynamics, seemingly referencing former President Donald Trump.

“So it doesn’t matter if a candidate running for office just is constantly, just hypothetically, saying untrue things, or if an elected president claims that he won when he lost and that the system was rigged, but then when he wins, then it isn’t rigged, because he won,” he said.

“It doesn’t matter if everybody believes it. It just matters if everybody starts kind of throwing up their hands and saying, well, I guess it doesn’t matter,” he added.

“And that’s what’s happened. That’s what’s happened in one of our major political parties. You have a whole bunch of people who know that’s not true, but we will pretend like it is. And that is dangerous. But part of what we’re going to have to do is to start experimenting with new forms of journalism and how do we use social media in ways that reaffirm facts, separate facts from opinion,” said Obama.

He emphasized the importance of critical thinking and media literacy, especially among younger generations.

“We want diversity of opinion. We don’t want diversity of facts. And how do we train and teach our kids to distinguish between those things?” Obama asked.

He concluded by suggesting that government regulation may be necessary to manage the current digital landscape.

“That, I think, is one of the big tasks of social media. By the way, it will require some government, I believe, some government regulatory constraints around some of these business models in a way that’s consistent with the First Amendment, but that also says, look, there is a difference between these platforms letting all voices be heard versus a business model that elevates the most hateful voices or the most polarizing voices or the most dangerous, in the sense of inciting violence, voices. And that, I think, is going to be a big challenge for all of us that we’re going to have to undertake,” he said.