This is not the Hanoi Hilton or Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge — this is CNN.
Over the weekend I wrote an article on the media meltdown over a tweet by President Trump featuring an animated WWE gif of Trump bodyslamming CNN:
Courtesy of @pspoole, probably the most brutal take for the #25thAmendmentNow tweeters –> https://t.co/6oXyOxzDuj #July4thWeekend
— PJ Media (@PJMedia_com) July 2, 2017
Media Cartel Snowflakes Melt From Blazing Heat of a Trump Tweet https://t.co/A6oUYas95w via @pjmedia_com pic.twitter.com/wCAzgjiuL6
— Patrick Poole (@pspoole) July 2, 2017
Here’s the tweet in question:
#FraudNewsCNN #FNN pic.twitter.com/WYUnHjjUjg
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 2, 2017
I noted the hysterical reaction from the media cartel, which made the patently ridiculous claim that Trump was inciting violence against the media.
It turns out that the person behind the animated gif used by Trump is a Reddit user completely unconnected to Trump or the White House. He goes by the name “HanAssholeSolo.”
Needless to say, the witch hunt was on to find the heretic.
The anti-CNN video Trump tweeted showed up on a Reddit thread 4 days ago… https://t.co/0LiYgKvjdf
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) July 2, 2017
It was discovered that he had previously posted material that is commonly characterized by Reddit users as “sh**posting.”
A Reddit user who wrote about stabbing Muslims is claiming credit for Trump's CNN video https://t.co/FZaJBIDshS
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) July 3, 2017
The user posted Sunday night that he was "honored" to have his post re-shared by the "the MAGA EMPORER himself!!!" https://t.co/2K6sxQuo6j
— NPR (@NPR) July 3, 2017
CNN, the target of Trump’s original tweet, tasked Andrew Kaczynski to hunt down the Reddit user and dox him.
Exclusive: CNN tracked down the Reddit user behind the Trump wrestling GIF. Now he's apologizing. https://t.co/HMEKfD1De3
— CNN (@CNN) July 5, 2017
The Reddit user posted a public apology for his behavior.
Redditor HanAssholeSolo, the guy who posted the Trump/CNN clip the president tweeted, has apologized to @CNN, the media, and others pic.twitter.com/GlePoiSlFj
— Brandon Wall (@Walldo) July 4, 2017
This would otherwise seem to put the matter to bed.
Yet as the late Billy Mays would say, “But wait, there’s more!”
In Kaczynski’s story, he outright threatens to out the Reddit user if he doesn’t comply:
CNN is not publishing “HanA**holeSolo’s” name because he is a private citizen who has issued an extensive statement of apology, showed his remorse by saying he has taken down all his offending posts, and because he said he is not going to repeat this ugly behavior on social media again. In addition, he said his statement could serve as an example to others not to do the same.
CNN reserves the right to publish his identity should any of that change.
Many quickly observed that this threat amounted to ideological blackmail.
32/? I've been citing a lot of cases. Here's a statute: 18 USC § 875(d). Here's a pic of that pic.twitter.com/CxhYFf3N4M
— (((Aaron “Worthing” Walker))) (@AaronWorthing) July 5, 2017
Is that normal? Is @CNN essentially threatening to dox him, or am I reading that wrong? pic.twitter.com/7LMMqo1fK5
— Philip DeFranco (@PhillyD) July 5, 2017
That last line id kind of…"nice Reddit profile you ot here, shame if something were to happen to it." 🤤 https://t.co/F5gxEpBNHa
— Emily Zanotti (@emzanotti) July 5, 2017
https://twitter.com/bethanyshondark/status/882426677384663041
Others noted that this doxxing threat amounted to a violation of Twitter’s terms of service:
https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/882439262536388612
Another remarkable element is that Kaczynski initially claimed that the confession was extracted only after he had been contacted by CNN:
https://twitter.com/KFILE/status/882407128962650113
But after getting called out on that, Kaczynski reversed course and said the confession and apology came before he *spoke* with the individual:
https://twitter.com/KFILE/status/882418323673239553
But he admitted he had already *emailed* him.
https://twitter.com/KFILE/status/882422613338968064
Call me crazy, but this looks a lot like Andrew changing his story to avoid being accused of coercing an apology. pic.twitter.com/3UmziGYzsm
— neontaster (@neontaster) July 5, 2017
And Kaczynski SWEARS it wasn’t a threat:
https://twitter.com/KFILE/status/882438606270410752
But one of his CNN colleagues had already given the doxxing threat game away:
Here's CNN producer's TL admitting their plans to threaten doxxing if he didn't apologize. #CNNblackmail pic.twitter.com/JnDCg44Hkg
— TheRightWingM 🇺🇸 (@TheRightWingM) July 5, 2017
After the backlash began, he again posted that the Reddit user threatened with doxxing by CNN agreed that he wasn’t threatened.
https://twitter.com/KFILE/status/882429541981052928
That prompted a lot of eyerolling:
BREAKING: Man who signs forced confession assures the organization that forced it that his confession wasn't forced. https://t.co/ZonkXfuH3t
— Sam Schulman كافر| ن (@Sam_Schulman) July 5, 2017
Hostages usually say what they think will please their captors. This is INSANE. https://t.co/ETX0yKj30D
— Tammy Bruce (@HeyTammyBruce) July 5, 2017
https://twitter.com/BramboRaveheart/status/882438302623612929
Needless to say, some of Kaczynski’s media-cartel colleagues lined up in support of CNN’s behavior, including the New York Times television critic:
Are people upset CNN found the Reddit guy or that they didn't ID him? There's no journalistic rule against digging & finding who someone is
— James Poniewozik (@poniewozik) July 5, 2017
https://twitter.com/AlxThomp/status/882417435000942597
Others found Kaczynski’s methods distasteful and dangerous:
Any other examples of a news organization explaining a grant of anonymity then threatening in the next breath to burn the source?
— James Taranto (@jamestaranto) July 5, 2017
https://twitter.com/germanrlopez/status/882435429320052736
Virtually all of the complaints against CNN are not in defense of the Reddit user’s posts, but are targeting the coercive nature of the media conglomerate’s threat to dox the individual:
The threat to doxx him is the issue. Either his identity is newsworthy or it isn't. It doesn't *become* newsworthy if CNN decides it is. https://t.co/k8e3HwXKAX
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) July 5, 2017
Whole point of coercion/blackmail is that your true consent is vitiated https://t.co/ZNVP6gm1an
— Gray Connolly (@GrayConnolly) July 5, 2017
The CNN threat shows the primary concern of the establishment media is policing the public, not informing us
— Scott Greer (@ScottMGreer) July 5, 2017
Anti-Semitic memes bother me.
Big media companies using their power to coerce silence from random internet users bothers me more.— neontaster (@neontaster) July 5, 2017
https://twitter.com/Wokieleaksalt/status/882424180393869313
As our own Instapundit observed, CNN may have made a considerable error going after a Reddit user:
https://twitter.com/instapundit/status/882431182037712896
You can take the @kfile out of BuzzFeed, but it's going to take 4chan to see if you can dox the BuzzFeed out of @kfile.
— (((≠))) (@ThomasHCrown) July 5, 2017
There are some claims that “HanAssholeSolo” is a minor:
https://twitter.com/praesto03/status/882456518754529280
Some at CNN have defended the doxxing threats because of the anti-semitic nature of some of the Reddit user’s other posts:
"Analysis of Reddit User." For those expecting Tapper to condemn & reject #CNNBlackmail ==> pic.twitter.com/OvU6EG5IKK
— Tammy Bruce (@HeyTammyBruce) July 5, 2017
Others aren’t quite convinced that warranted the media cartel being sent on a search-and-destroy mission against some unknown person because CNN was butthurt over a Trump tweet:
I received 40% of all anti-Semitic Tweets sent to US journalists. CNN blew this so badly I must defend s***posters. https://t.co/gJU7qBdUGO
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) July 5, 2017
If it’s attention CNN wanted, they’ve got it:
https://twitter.com/DarkTriadMan/status/882465735355883520
It would seem that CNN would have more pressing matters to attend to:
CNN's total viewership from Wednesday. That their primetime lineup is all under 1 million is something else…this a major issue. pic.twitter.com/U1WSQwHRoE
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) June 30, 2017
And then there’s the obvious double standard at play:
https://twitter.com/PotluckPolitico/status/882425380807856128
If @CNN @KFILE are whining about HanAssholeSolo posting anti-semitic memes on Reddit, what are they doing pushing Hamas queen Linda Sarsour? pic.twitter.com/UhEYi7jOHM
— Patrick Poole (@pspoole) July 5, 2017
It bears mentioning that there are other important journalistic standards at stake in this affair:
CNN has already doxxed him. Now that he's been found, someone else will name him
— Greg Pollowitz (@GPollowitz) July 5, 2017
So @CNN sources no longer enjoy the right of anonymous speech? Asking for @KFILE
— Patrick Poole (@pspoole) July 5, 2017
Giving some unsuspecting guy on the internet the “Joe the Plumber” treatment doesn’t seem to be going over well if the Twitter trend of the #CNNBlackmail hashtag is any indication.
One might suggest that this bullying behavior by the media is yet another example of why Donald Trump was elected president to begin with. The abusive nature of CNN’s doxxing threat, irrespective of whatever “HanAssholeSolo” had s***posted in the past, appears to be backfiring.
As well it should. This is not China or North Korea. This is America.
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