CNN's veiled threat to expose the identity of the Reddit user who created the Donald Trump-wrestling-CNN video could be a violation of Georgia law, Sen. Ted Cruz warned Wednesday.
CNN's Andrew Kaczynski reported he'd learned Reddit user's identity — and by Tuesday the person both issued an apology on the subreddit /The_Donald and deleted all of his other posts.
"Using identifying information that "HanA**holeSolo" posted on Reddit, [CNN's investigative unit, known as KFile] was 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," Kaczynski wrote, saying the outlet wouldn't publish the person's name "because he is a private citizen who has issued an extensive statement of apology, showed his remorse . . . because he said he is not going to repeat this ugly behavior on social media again."
But Kaczynski also wrote: "CNN reserves the right to publish his identity should any of that change."
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. CNN headquarters are located in Atlanta, GA.
The Daily Caller cites Georgia Code, which states a person 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."
Some Twitter users also pointed to New York's penal law against coercion, speculating it could apply to CNN's threat to dox the Reddit poster. CNN also has a studio in New York.
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