President Obama was asked about Sony's decision to pull the movie The Interview during his final press conference of 2014: Obama: Sony 'Made A Mistake' By Canceling The Release Of 'The Interview':

President Barack Obama spoke Friday afternoon on the recent hacking of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which the FBI attributed to North Korea in a press release earlier on Friday.

During a year-end press conference, Obama said Sony made a mistake by canceling the premiere of the film "The Interview," a comedy about an assassination attempt on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, starring Seth Rogen and James Franco.

"I am sympathetic to the concerns that they faced," Obama said. "Having said all that, yes, I think they made a mistake."

"I wish they'd spoken to me first [before canceling the release of the film]," Obama said later. [...]

On Dec. 17, Sony canceled plans to release the film -- originally slated to be released Dec. 25 -- after the hackers issued threats to anyone who saw "The Interview." The hackers' message said "the world will be full of fear" and invoked the Sept. 11 attacks.

But Obama said the company shouldn't have been swayed by the likes of Kim Jong Un.

"We cannot have a society in which some dictator someplace can start imposing censorship here in the United States," Obama said. "If somebody's 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."

Obama said there was "no indication" North Korea worked with another country to implement the cyberattack.