After all, his administration has been doing the very things at home that he is opposing abroad.

Speaking at the Clinton Global Initiative's annual conference on Tuesday, Mr. Obama unveiled a U.S. government directive aimed at strengthening citizen movements that push for freer, more open societies.

"When people are free to speak their minds and hold their leaders accountable, governments are more responsive and more effective," Mr. Obama said at the conference hosted by the Clinton family's charitable foundation.

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Threatened by what he called "civil society"—community organizations, labor unions, charities and other nongovernmental groups—repressive governments "are doing everything in their power" to stifle dissent, Mr. Obama said.

"From Russia to China to Venezuela, you're seeing relentless crackdowns," he said, "vilifying legitimate dissent as subversive."

U.S. government agencies would take new steps to bolster citizen groups abroad so that they can operate more freely, the president said.