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CNN threatens to dox reddit user over GIF


V-Man339

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To quote CNN's own twitter

Exclusive: CNN tracked down the Reddit user behind the Trump wrestling GIF. Now he's apologizing.

https://twitter.com/CNN/status/882410884445999105

CNN is not publishing “HanA**holeSolo’s” name because he is a private citizen who has issued an extensive statement of apology, showed 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.

Currently #CNNblackmail is higher than July the 4th on the USA Twitter trends.

 

As quoted from CNN (thanks jaxa)

CNN is threatening to publish an pseudonymous social media user's identity if they retract/dismiss their apology. They are policing the bad (free speech) behavior of an entirely random user simply because their inconsequential GIF/video got tweeted by the President. Many people could have made the GIF in minutes, so the identity and behavior of the actual person is pretty much irrelevant. But I suppose proving that the user is a deplorable racist makes Trump guilty by association for not vetting the life history of the person whose content he basically ripped off (I assume he or whomever posted it on the President's behalf did not get permission to tweet it - which is extra funny because it will end up in the National Archives regardless).

 

DD8SZubVYAQ7d2v.jpg

 

Don't fall for the deceptive word play.

  1. CNN "reaches out" to Solo
  2. Solo posted apology
  3. Solo replied to CNN

Other coverage below

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/jul/5/cnn-threatens-reveal-reddit-user-real-identity-ove/

http://www.dailywire.com/news/18259/thug-journalism-cnn-threatens-reveal-identity-ben-shapiro

 

I haven't respected them since a bit before the last election, but this is a new low to say the least.

Edited by V-Man339
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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.

 

Forget the timeline wrangling/wordplay, this is the key piece of information as quoted from CNN.

 

CNN is threatening to publish an pseudonymous social media user's identity if they retract/dismiss their apology. They are policing the bad (free speech) behavior of an entirely random user simply because their inconsequential GIF/video got tweeted by the President. Many people could have made the GIF in minutes, so the identity and behavior of the actual person is pretty much irrelevant. But I suppose proving that the user is a deplorable racist makes Trump guilty by association for not vetting the life history of the person whose content he basically ripped off (I assume he or whomever posted it on the President's behalf did not get permission to tweet it - which is extra funny because it will end up in the National Archives regardless).

Edited by jaxa
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Yeah.

I wouldn't mind this much but the fact that they're doing this over a GIF by a 15 year old when they've visibly done far, far less over genuine criminal behavior is really damning, and that's ignoring the basic act of doxing a guy under the guise of journalism.

I like to record difficult stealth games, and right now you wonderful people are the only ones delivering on that front.

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Not surprised. As the Fourth Estate has become the most significant branch of power (especially when we account for the concentration of money and influence in the hands of a few interest groups), the temptation to introduce the modern equivalent of lèse-majesté has grown enormously. What is noteworthy is the bile and venom with which journalists have attacked the concept of free speech now that they feel like they are in power. Disappearing comment sections, going after anonymous Internet users, and shutting down debate when it goes against your wishes show that there is nothing sacred and special about the press - they are just as prone to corruption when allowed to run unchecked as any other human group.

Come the time of peril, did the ground gape, and did the dead rest unquiet 'gainst us. Our bands of iron and hammers of stone prevailed not, and some did doubt the Builder's plan. But the seals held strong, and the few did triumph, and the doubters were lain into the foundations of the new sanctum. -- Collected letters of the Smith-in-Exile, Civitas Approved

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Not surprised. As the Fourth Estate has become the most significant branch of power (especially when we account for the concentration of money and influence in the hands of a few interest groups), the temptation to introduce the modern equivalent of lèse-majesté has grown enormously. What is noteworthy is the bile and venom with which journalists have attacked the concept of free speech now that they feel like they are in power. Disappearing comment sections, going after anonymous Internet users, and shutting down debate when it goes against your wishes show that there is nothing sacred and special about the press - they are just as prone to corruption when allowed to run unchecked as any other human group.

 

This is hardly corruption when put in perspective Goebbels level of propaganda in North Korea or Russia.

It is just a bias and a ridiculous situation that they've put themselves in. What is bad are systematic acts of the press associating itself with narrow circles of power for favors, profit, reciprocal and mutual agreements on promoting personal agendas. But not necessarily one that involves killing someone or whatnot. It's just not nice.

Edited by Anderson

"I really perceive that vanity about which most men merely prate — the vanity of the human or temporal life. I live continually in a reverie of the future. I have no faith in human perfectibility. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active — not more happy — nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago. The result will never vary — and to suppose that it will, is to suppose that the foregone man has lived in vain — that the foregone time is but the rudiment of the future — that the myriads who have perished have not been upon equal footing with ourselves — nor are we with our posterity. I cannot agree to lose sight of man the individual, in man the mass."...

- 2 July 1844 letter to James Russell Lowell from Edgar Allan Poe.

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It's definitely a juvenile reaction that has cost them the moral high ground. I wonder who thought it was actually a good idea?

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Well one things for sure, remember the Streisand Effect - this has got that written all over it.

 

I hope some lawer contacts the kid and offers to represent him pro-bono and then sue CNN, as they have broken a few laws I can think of -

  • Blackmailing a minor - this is a big one (they have tried to retract the threat but its out there now)
  • 1st breach of data protection - using insider knowledge to obtain detail of a private individual without a warrant.
  • 2nd breach of data protection - threatening to expose details of a private individual

The list goes on, yes the kid is probably a little shit who needs a slap - but a CNN need to be slapped down big. If for no other reason than to make sure other media's companies don't think they can pull this kind of shit and get away with it.

Edited by Bikerdude
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Well one things for sure, remember the Streisand Effect - this has got that written all over hit.

 

I hope some lawer contacts the kid and offers to represent him pro-bono and then sue CNN, as they have broken a few laws I can think of -

  • Blackmailing a minor - this is a big one (they have tried to retract the threat but its out there now)
  • 1st breach of data protection - using insider knowledge to obtain detail of a private individual without a warrant.
  • 2nd breach of data protection - threatening to expose details of a private individual

The list goes on, yes the kid is probably a little shit who needs a slap - but a CNN need to be slapped down big. If for no other reason than to make sure other media's companies don't think they can pull this kind of shit and get away with it.

 

+1 but they might just counter-attack for turning down their "professional ethics" and attempting to bring false accusation.

"I really perceive that vanity about which most men merely prate — the vanity of the human or temporal life. I live continually in a reverie of the future. I have no faith in human perfectibility. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active — not more happy — nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago. The result will never vary — and to suppose that it will, is to suppose that the foregone man has lived in vain — that the foregone time is but the rudiment of the future — that the myriads who have perished have not been upon equal footing with ourselves — nor are we with our posterity. I cannot agree to lose sight of man the individual, in man the mass."...

- 2 July 1844 letter to James Russell Lowell from Edgar Allan Poe.

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CNN's Andrew Kaczynski claims that the Reddit user is an adult rather than a 15 year old, and that the user agreed that CNN/Kaczynski had not threatened him. Trustworthy?

 

They haven't published his identity, but by describing how CNN's KFile (KillFile?) were "able to determine key biographical details, to find the man's name using a Facebook search and ultimately corroborate details he had made available on Reddit", they've made it easy to retrace their footsteps. Somebody probably saved any identifying information before it could be scrubbed from Reddit, and somebody else could dox the person. If it is an adult, they can expect a wave of calls to their employer leading to unemployment.

 

Do you have a link for your ISP claim, nbohr?

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Jerk move by CNN.

 

They should be directing that dickish condescension towards Trump anyway.

He's the one that actually brought this on and deserves it.

 

Plus CNN got an excellent trolling video in the deal in return.

It was one of the most epic troll battles of the year that they won hands down.

Why ruin it with this (possibly illegal / definitely childish) crap?

 

My feel was the guy probably has daughters & volunteers at his church or something like that, and he screws around anonymously online on his off time like all of us do but he doesn't deserve to have his life ruined for it.

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I'm not even sure what they think they're accomplishing by finding out who made it. It's not a crime, and it doesn't even reach the low water mark of "offensive", unless perhaps you're a reporter who has been body-slammed. The only part of this story that was significant was that the POTUS tweeted it from his official channel, which is all kinds of juvenile.

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so far non of places Ive read about this story have even jumped on how much a total prick the potus is

 

 

Where are you reading? That's pretty much all I've seen.

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Technically he might not even tweet himself. It might just be people from his staff and he just approves the message typed at his voice command.

"I really perceive that vanity about which most men merely prate — the vanity of the human or temporal life. I live continually in a reverie of the future. I have no faith in human perfectibility. I think that human exertion will have no appreciable effect upon humanity. Man is now only more active — not more happy — nor more wise, than he was 6000 years ago. The result will never vary — and to suppose that it will, is to suppose that the foregone man has lived in vain — that the foregone time is but the rudiment of the future — that the myriads who have perished have not been upon equal footing with ourselves — nor are we with our posterity. I cannot agree to lose sight of man the individual, in man the mass."...

- 2 July 1844 letter to James Russell Lowell from Edgar Allan Poe.

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Well this is like the final form of Media Matters' (David Brock) political propaganda apparatus.

David perfected the art of "guilt by association" and making right-wing politicians apologize for the

acts of their "supporters" (along with sometimes faking said supporters actions).

 

 

They probably felt that Donald handed them their perfect example case on a silver platter since the

guy who created the meme posted a few racist posts too. With gold so close at hand, they got careless.

They should've known better than to trust such a sensitive operation to an ex-Buzzfeed writer...

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A Onetime BuzzFeed Wunderkind, Now at CNN

 

The Reddit user behind Trump’s CNN meme apologized. But #CNNBlackmail is the story taking hold.

 

CNN Story About Source of Trump Wrestling Video Draws Backlash

 

Tweet 1: This is someone [read: human scum] who shared an image of CNN reporters' faces with star(s) of David next to them

 

Tweet 2: But it's totally cool, he just called me and said he was not threatened in any way [insert flashback to the "misinterpreted" line in Andrew's article here]

 

Pro-Trump activist with White House access publishes ‘doxed’ personal information for CNN anchors

 

In a message posted to Twitter, which Raw Story is not linking to, Posobiec said that he received the information from the white supremacist group 8chan.

 

Bit of a smear, there, given that it is a loose collection of hundreds or thousands of boards.

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They probably felt that Donald handed them their perfect example case on a silver platter since the

guy who created the meme posted a few racist posts too. With gold so close at hand, they got careless.

 

 

"Gold close at hand"? Wasn't that bridge already crossed with the whole David Duke story? And Bannon as an advisor? This isn't exactly a new thing. No one is going to have their opinion changed on that issue because he retweeted a non-racist video made by a random person who also posted racist things.

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And here's another aspect. According to BuzzFeed, Andrew Kaczynski's former employer, the GIF that the President tweeted was actually a modified version created by someone else:

 

https://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanhatesthis/how-a-random-gif-from-reddit-probably-ended-up-on-president

 

So CNN didn't even go after the unknown person with the most direct connection to Trump or Trump's inner circle or aides! Or as the last line of the article puts it:

 

But throughout all of this, we haven't actually learned anything about where Trump and members of his inner circle are getting their memes.

 

That story also links to the archive.org Wayback for the Reddit user's userpage. Not sure if more than one page is archived, but that could mean that the info required to dox that person is still available despite them having deleted their Reddit account. So their job/safety/livelihood is in jeopardy.

Edited by jaxa
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"Gold close at hand"? Wasn't that bridge already crossed with the whole David Duke story? And Bannon as an advisor? This isn't exactly a new thing.

No one is going to have their opinion changed on that issue because he retweeted a non-racist video made by a random person who also posted racist things.

They were just stung by James O'Keefe via hidden camera interviews where big producers and on-air personalities were

admitting that they had no real sources or evidence for the "Trump\Russia Collusion" story

and that they were continuing to produce segments about it because it was good for ratings and revenue:

 

 

CNN were desperate to hit back with "something" so they went back to old tactics.

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It's worth noting that no one on CNN has ever said that there is definitely evidence of Trump "colluding" with Russia. However, that's a far cry from the video's claim that the "Russia Narrative" is bullshit. The "Russia Narrative" includes multiple facts that aren't in dispute by anyone but Trump and his most ardent supporters--namely that they interfered in the election with the express purpose of helping Trump, and that numerous people in Trump's inner circle lied about meetings they had with Russian officials, and neither Trump nor his officials have taken any measures to attempt to stop the interference in the next election.

 

That by itself, not to mention the ongoing independent investigations, is more than enough to justify the public interest.

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Could you unpack "interference"?

 

Hacking the DNC and RNC, releasing negative information about the Democrats, spreading fabricated stories through social media...those appear ones that all intelligence agencies agree on. I'm not sure what the consensus on the evidence for them attempting to hack voting machines is.

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This has changed angles a bit from where I started so I just want it on record: I don't think companies should be DOXing or threatening to DOX people period, that should be a law enforcement affair, if that.

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