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johnnyFive  ·  2477 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: User does a thing, Trump does a thing, then CNN does a thing

    What if the troll was emboldened by the claim that CNN wouldn't publish the troll's information and started a campaign against them?

This isn't really a good enough justification to me. "People will be mean on the Internet" excuses very little.

Why I have such a problem is because of how dangerous this is for freedom of speech. It's all well and good to say "it's okay to out a racist" or "it's okay to out a guy posting creepy pictures of girls." But what happens when we start outing people who criticize Trump? Given how violent his supporters can be, I can understand not wanting to say some of that stuff under your own name. Doubly so if you're in a position of authority or prominence. I think CNN's actions, if not condemned, run a serious risk of chilling expression.