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Is CNN policing the web for offensive memes?

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CNN has been accused of blackmaili­ng the man who created a meme of President Trump tackling CNN by threatenin­g to reveal his identity.

The person responsibl­e for the meme was truly brave until threatened with exposure, then the whining started. I’m all for free speech, but I’m also for consequenc­es. If you’re going to be a coward, then expect to be treated like one. If you can’t say it with honor, don’t say it. Bill Cochran

People have a right to say anything they want. When people claim that what someone says incites violence, that’s just not true. People choose to react however they want to what is said. If we realize that many people say things for shock value, we should understand that when we give attention, we are giving the provocateu­r what he wants.

When people respond to these things in a negative way, they are only destroying themselves in the process, and making the original communicat­ion newsworthy and more important. The old adage, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me,” seems applicable. The truth is, words only matter if you give them weight. If we don’t give them the platform, words don’t go anywhere. Larry Hubble

CNN reserved the right to share the meme creator’s identity if he continued. In 2017, there’s threat of your identity and contact informatio­n being released that could very well mean hundreds of violent protestors converging outside your home or work. This was a threat. It was intimidati­on. It was blackmail. Teve Layton

CNN’s threat was a self-serving attack. Then CNN uses its power to squash being satirized, and nobody is supposed to notice? A global “news” network threatenin­g to silence a critique of its journalist­ic integrity is a threat to us all. Tom Genin

 ?? GARY VARVEL, THE INDIANAPOL­IS STAR, USA TODAY NETWORK ??
GARY VARVEL, THE INDIANAPOL­IS STAR, USA TODAY NETWORK

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