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by Gordonjcp 1063 days ago
> threatening to have him deported to China while specifically calling out his public criticism of the CCP with a disgusting "who knows how he may be received"

I think you're overstating it a bit.

How about you tell the whole story?

3 comments

That didn't happen.

And if it did, it wasn't that bad.

And if it was, that's not a big deal.

And if it is, that's not my fault.

And if it was, I didn't mean it.

And if I did, he deserved it.

I think the fact that Daniel backpedaled and said his blackmail comment wasn't meant as blackmail doesn't really change anything.
It's not blackmail in the first place. There were no secrets to reveal since everything was published online, and it's legal to sue and report a possible crime. Speculating about the consequences doesn't make it blackmail.
The vast majority of neurotypical English-speaking adults would have no difficulty categorising it as a veiled threat. Note the strong consensus in this comments section.

The message has two parts - the response that X wants from Y, and the possible negative consequences for Y. The proximity of the two parts makes the implied link clear (to most people, anyway).

I assure you that 99% of judges and prosecutors would recognise this as blackmail (modulo variance in different countries' legal definitions of the crime).

I'm not sure what to believe, but the curious thing is even years later the repository in question doesn't seem to have been taken down.