This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

After identifying the creator of the infamous meme of Donald Trump beating up a man with a CNN logo superimposed over his head — and having declined to identify that man — CNN is now being attacked for bullying that individual.

We live in a world gone mad, where people go on the attack to distract from hideously bad behavior — like Donald Trump's parade of reprehensible tweets.

CNN traced the tweet (adapted from an old clip of Trump at a WWE event) to a Reddit account the Anti-Defamation League described as having "an 18-month record of vile comments and memes against Muslims, African-Americans, Jews and others."

CNN contacted the man, and reports he is 15 years old are genuine fake news. The ADL and CNN report he is middle-aged.

CNN withheld his name "because he is a private citizen who has issued an extensive statement of apology, showed his remorse by saying he has taken down all his offending posts, and because he said he is not going to repeat this ugly behavior on social media again.... CNN reserves the right to publish his identity should any of that change."

CNN doesn't deserve applause for this. But it certainly doesn't deserve the bullying charge. If it wanted to bully this guy, it would release his name.

And what is posting racist/anti-Semitic memes but bullying?

You could argue that racists and anti-Semites don't deserve anonymity. Yes, the man insists he is neither, but his actions indicate otherwise. But CNN also said it is worried about his safety — a reasonable concern.

If social media required people to post under their real names, the world would be a better place. Sure, some would continue their hideously bad behavior; @RealDonaldTrump proves that. But normal people would think twice before they spouted racism, sexism, homophobia and all manners of hate.

Using your real name is not a guarantee you're not going to do something dumb, of course. Multiple people, some using their real names, made fools of themselves when they mistakenly believed NPR tweeting the Declaration of Independence was an attack on Trump. "Seriously, this is the dumbest idea I have ever seen on twitter. Literally no one is going to read 5000 tweets about this trash," tweeted @darren_mills.

And when he suffered the predictable backlash, he complained that he was being bullied.

Sad.

Anonymous hate speech is nothing new. Before the Internet, I got anonymous letters filled with vitriol, angered by something I'd written. But writing and mailing a letter requires some effort; tweeting, commenting on stories and posting on social-media sites requires almost none.

If you have the strength of your convictions, you use your name. If you don't, you post anonymously.

CNN didn't bully this Reddit user. The bullying is being done by those making that false claim.

Scott D. Pierce covers TV for The Salt Lake Tribune. Email him at spierce@sltrib.com; follow him on Twitter @ScottDPierce.