Fox contributor Mark Steyn said CNN has gone unhinged in their reaction to a GIF showing President Trump” body slamming” their logo.
Steyn said it was “ridiculous” for the network to have used their resources to hunt down the GIF creator.
CNN then forced the person to apologize and remove his GIF in exchange for them keeping his identity secret.
That’s extortion.
“Why not figure out where [ISIS leader Abu Bakr] al-Baghdadi is?” Tucker Carlson asked.
“A major news organization is policing some no-name schlub’s internet content and threatening to reveal his identity if he transgresses their particular standards,” Steyn said.
Ref.: http://truthfeed.com/steyn-wolf-blitzer-basically-put-a-horses-head-in-cnn-gif-creators-bed/88617/
Even OTHER Liberals are calling CNN “Extremely Unethical”
CNN is not just in “hot water,” they’re in BOILING HOT NUCLEAR WATER.
Bubbling toxic waste.
After using their “unlimited resources” to HUNT down a private citizen who created a funny meme, and then threatening to EXPOSE his identity if he didn’t apologize to CNN and remove the meme, CNN looks more like a mob organization than a “fake news” outlet.
It’s so bad now, that even other liberal outlets are calling CNN “extremely unethical.”
From Daily Caller
CNN sparked a backlash Tuesday night after threatening to identify the Reddit user who claimed to have created a meme of Donald Trump body-slamming the CNN logothat the president later shared on Twitter.
CNN targeted Reddit user HanAssholeSolo because he took credit for the video and apparently had a history of making racist and anti-Semitic remarks online.
CNN reporter Andrew Kaczynski opted not to identify the user “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.”
But Kaczynski then added that “CNN reserves the right to publish his identity should any of that change,” seemingly indicating that CNN would identify the user if he repeats his “ugly behavior” on social media.
That sentence was widely interpreted as a threat.
Kaczynski, who disputed that characterization, seemed especially upset that the Reddit user “was someone who shared an image of CNN reporters’ face with Stars of David next them.”
Kaczynski stated that the Reddit user’s public apology came after CNN identified and reached out to him.
News aggregator Matt Drudge quickly highlighted the story on his site, the Drudge Report, captioning it: “CNN Declines to ID Because He’s ‘Taken Down All Offending Posts.”‘
“Trump was bad. CNN is worse: CNN threatens amateur satirist behind Trump video: make fun of us again and we dox you,” WikiLeaks wrote on Twitter.
“I can’t emphasize how bad this is on CNN’s part,” wrote German Lopez, a reporter for liberal website Vox. “This is basically ‘don’t post stuff we don’t like or we’ll dox you.’ Extremely unethical.”
“That’s essentially blackmail. That’s CNN stating that it will out the guy if he dares to defy their political perspective or offends them sufficiently,” wrote conservative commentator Ben Shapiro. “The whole story is frightening, and obviously an attempt to both nail Trump and discourage people from smacking CNN.”
Others leveled similar criticisms at CNN for the piece, with many using the hashtag #CNNBlackmail, which quickly became the top trending hashtag on Twitter.
Republican congressman Scott Taylor was among those accusing CNN of committing blackmail. “Pretty sure a line is crossed here,” he added.
@CNN U basically coerce apology & threaten release of identity if something changes? Pretty sure a line is crossed here. #CNNBlackmail https://t.co/k4W9AepP6W
— Scott Taylor (@Scotttaylorva) July 5, 2017
Don't worry @KFILE, if you start deleting your tweets I've saved them for you. #urwelcome #CNNBlackmail
— Tammy Bruce (@HeyTammyBruce) July 5, 2017
The history books will show that on #july4th2017 CNN blackmailed someone who made a joke gif about them. #CNNBlackmail
— Mark Dice (@MarkDice) July 5, 2017
Maybe this #CNNBlackmail is a great Independence Day lesson about the danger of power and how little you should trust the powerful.
— Jesse Kelly (@JesseKellyDC) July 5, 2017
Trump was bad. CNN is worse: CNN threatens amateur satirist behind Trump video: make fun of us again and we dox you https://t.co/KiKX1Gexyu pic.twitter.com/lqpmFHEsYc
— WikiLeaks (@wikileaks) 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
@CNN Stop. Rewind. Go back. Do not threaten to dox people in your articles because, like, I'm a big believer in news media but that's effed.
— Hank Green (@hankgreen) July 5, 2017
