Laura Poitras Quotes

#1. In all my work, I'm interested in understanding big issues through the lives of individuals ...

Laura Poitras

#2. The fact that the CIA knew that two of the 9/11 hijackers were entering the United States and didn't notify the FBI and that nobody lost their job is shocking. Instead, we occupied Iraq, which had nothing to do with 9/11. I mean, how did those choices get made?

Laura Poitras

#3. That's a question you'd have to present to people in the White House.

Laura Poitras

#4. When the most important decisions are made in secret, we lose our ability to check the powers that control.

Laura Poitras

#5. It's not everyday that a whistleblower is actually willing to be identified.

Laura Poitras

#6. I think it's radical to censor information because the government asks you to. That's radical.

Laura Poitras

#7. One of the things that I think is true is that encryption actually is able to secure our communications, that every individual can use encryption, and that it's accessible and in many cases free.

Laura Poitras

#8. The free software community should be supported more widely. I'm totally in solidarity with what they do.

Laura Poitras

#9. In terms of sources coming forward, I really reject this idea of talking about one, two, three sources. There are many sources that have informed the reporting we've done and I think that Americans owe them a debt of gratitude for taking the risk they do.

Laura Poitras

#10. I don't speak Arabic - I know a little to get by, but that's all.

Laura Poitras

#11. Those who are experts in the fields of surveillance, privacy, and technology say that there need to be two tracks: a policy track and a technology track. The technology track is encryption. It works and if you want privacy, then you should use it.

Laura Poitras

#12. In all my work, I'm interested in trying to understand the human consequences of government policies.

Laura Poitras

#13. People are starting to understand that the devices we carry with us reveal our location, who we're talking to, and all kinds of other information.

Laura Poitras