To summon someone implies force both in the "real world" use and in the mythological use. In the real world it generally means to order, with the implication t

To summon someone implies force both in the "real world" use and in the mythological use. In the real world it generally means to order, with the implication that there are consequences to failing to appear, and the consequences in this case are clear from the juxtaposition of wanting to shut up exiled journalists and summoning their families. In mythology it typically implies incantations etc. forces the entity to appear. There's nothing soft about that wording. If anything "to summon" is often used to imply a level of disdain and lack of legitimate basis that is not implicit in "to order"