Why is CNN threatening and censoring speech?
CNN reports that it has confirmed the identity of the creator of the controversial video that shows President Trump taking down someone with the CNN logo for a head. Like many, I was highly critical of the president for reposting the video on his Twitter account. That was both irresponsible and unpresidential.
What is curious is that CNN has withheld the identity of the Reddit user who created it while making a thinly veiled threat that it will release his name if he posts anything CNN finds disturbing or offensive. That is an odd role for a news organization. The news media do not usually put citizens on probation for exercising their free speech.
The video took on an entirely new character when Trump reposted it. He has waged an intense war against the news media and CNN in particular. That makes the original poster’s identity newsworthy.
CNN, however, said it had decided to withhold his name … for now. Its rationale: He is a private citizen who apologized, took down the offending posts, and said he is not going to repeat this ugly behavior on social media. “CNN reserves the right to publish his identity should any of that change,” the network added.
The last statement is particularly jarring. It sounds like CNN was putting the Reddit user on probationary status — threatening to reveal his name if it deems any posting “ugly behavior.” It puts a news organization in the position of monitoring free speech and deciding whether to ruin someone if he crosses some ill-defined line with CNN. It is the antithesis of what a news organization is supposed to be about.
If the man’s name is news, CNN can choose to publish it or not publish it. In reality, he is news only because his videotape was snatched from obscurity and paraded to the world by the president of the United States. It is the Internet equivalent of being hit by lightning. If the man posts an anti-media comment or gif, will CNN then declare it news and post his name? It is not clear how long this probationary period will run, let alone the standard for distinguishing between free speech and ugly speech.
Nor is there a clear rationale for putting him on probation. Journalists will often withhold the names of sexual assault victims or minors. However, they don’t threaten to reveal those names if they fail to meet the news organizations’ expectations or standards in future conduct. Indeed, even when juries reject sexual assault claims, CNN continues to protect the names.
In this case, CNN is behaving like a media censor. The president arbitrarily selected this man and his gif. Now CNN appears willing to arbitrarily punish him.
It is the threat of future disclosure that is so concerning and dangerous. News is not supposed to be a weapon brandished to induce good conduct by organizations like CNN. Free speech and free press go hand in hand. Once a news organization becomes the manager of free speech, it becomes a menace to the free press.