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Seattle Fined the Belltown Hellcat $83k. Why Not Fine His Employer, Instagram, Instead? [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2024-06-22  

Last month, the NYTimes reported on a street troll. Miles Hudson, age 20, has made a career out of Instagram-ing his reckless and illegally loud driving through downtown Seattle. Here’s gift link to the original story, and here’s the link to the more recent followup, detailing the $83k fine. Illegal and dangerous showoff driving is also common where I live. Now I’m wondering how many of those neighborhood ultra-speeders, street takeover donut drivers, and beltway weave at 100+ mph racers are making their living endangering and annoying us, thanks to Instagram, Youtube, and TikTok?

My question is: Why isn’t Instagram responsible too? I know social advertising companies like Meta have some legal protections on content posted by subscribers. So do blogs like DailyKos. But Mr. Hudson is more like an employee than a subscriber. He makes his living (apparently) getting paid by Meta to do illegal things that people like to watch on Instagram. At some point, by algorithmically publicizing his illegal activity, and then paying him to keep doing it, Instagram should be at least partially responsible for Mr. Miles illegal actions. I think fining Instagram, oh let’s say $83 billion — a million times the fine Mr. Hudson received — would be proportional and fair? Below, a block quote from the first article detailing how Mr. Miles makes his living from Instagram, and felt “professionally unable to alter his late-night [illegal] driving habits.”

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/6/22/2248115/-Seattle-Fined-the-Belltown-Hellcat-83k-Why-Not-Fine-His-Employer-Instagram-Instead?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=latest_community&pm_medium=web

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