Ted Cruz Warns Unethical CNN of Laws Possibly Broken In NY, Georgia

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CNN’s headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia, and aside from the lack of ethics, CNN might have violated Georgia law by threatening to dox the reddit user who created a Trump fight gif.

CNN uncovered the identity of the Reddit user who made a video that may have inspired the Trump video.  The multimillion dollar corporation brought the weight of their network down on the user and threatened to reveal his identity, harming him irrevocably, if he continued his “ugly behavior”.

CNN wrote:

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.

The subtext is clear. Do it again and we will ruin your life.

Cruz said if CNN tracked down the Reddit user through his IP address and then used that information to threaten him, they could be in violation of a Georgia law.

However, the Sentinel does not believe they needed to use an IP address. The reddit user was on Facebook and gave away too much personally identifying information including his small town, hints as to his age, the size of his family, and his gender. We also don’t believe the user was a teen but a man in his 40s from our research. Facebook searches turn up people with that amount of information. There is no privacy on Facebook. The NY law is a different story however.

Cruz addressed a Georgia extortion law CNN could have breached.

“Troubling. I assume CNN’s lawyers are examining GA § 16-8-16 Theft by extortion. If CNN constructively obtained the gif-maker’s IP…it’s a GA crime if they threatened to ‘Disseminate any information tending to subject any person to hatred, contempt, or ridicule….’” Cruz wrote.

The GA Code explains that someone could be guilty of “Theft by extortion” if they threaten to “disseminate any information tending to subject any person to hatred, contempt, or ridicule or to impair his credit or business repute.”

NY § 135.60 is not based on IP

Another relevant crime, Cruz says, is NY § 135.60: “A person is guilty of coercion in the second degree when he…induces a person…to abstain from engaging in conduct in which he…has a legal right to engage…by means of instilling…a fear…the actor will…expose a secret or publicize an asserted fact, whether true or false, tending to subject some person to hatred, contempt or ridicule.”

 


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