Sure but such a thing could easily be taken as an aggressive action or attack and traced back to us. I mean, if there is a technological civilization there, that is.
I love Breakthrough Starshot but this is an interesting risk to think about.
I love Breakthrough Starshot but this is an interesting risk to think about.
Should we similarly be afraid of making radio broadcasts lest our intended recipients interpret our beaming of energy as a hostile act? A somewhat similar concept is actually mentioned in the novel Blindsight. You could even go full Dark Forest and say that we're a threat simply by existing all the while brazenly advertising our presence through the oxygen in the atmosphere.
I also giggle at the idea of a highly advanced civilization arriving at earth to tell us humans exactly what they think of someone firing a relativistic shotgun at their planet. Even if it was only loaded with bird shot.