Family refers to all members of a family - adult members AND children. So, by threatening someone's family, one implicitly threatens any members of a family who are children (as well as the other members of a family).
Even simply exposing that information is a threat, possibly causing a chilling effect - which is exactly what this Uber exec wants.
>disturbed individuals [...] looking for a target
What??? Where did you get here from "digging up dirt". (For one, you don't need dirt to post someone's name on /b/ or whatever you have in mind.) The level of hyperbole on this submission is awful and pains me to read.
The comments were about "digging up dirt". Sleazy as that is, it doesn't even require personal contact.