Influencer’s Conviction Overturned

A social media influencer, sentenced two years ago to seven months in prison for posting memes during the 2016 election, had his conviction overturned by a New York appellate court on Wednesday.

Douglas McKee, 36, had shared a satirical meme that suggested voters could text “Hilary” to avoid going to the polls. This was claimed to be a form of election interference.

A panel of three judges from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit determined that the prosecution had not demonstrated that Mackey was part of a larger conspiracy to mislead voters. “This case was sent back to the district court with instructions for immediate dismissal. Hallelujah!” Mackey celebrated on social media.

Mackey was initially sentenced in October 2023 but was released on bail pending appeal. His meme, posted right before the election, encouraged voters to “avoid the line” and “vote from home” by texting their phone numbers.

At that time, Mackey was using the alias “Ricky Vaughn,” a nod to Charlie Sheen’s character in “Major League.”

Prosecutors claimed that approximately 4,900 unique phone numbers sent texts in response to the meme’s instructions.

After the incident, Twitter shut down Mackey’s Vaughn account, which had gained notoriety during the election cycle.

Federal prosecutors had accused Mackey of attempting to suppress voter turnout, citing several memes, some of which falsely implied they were funded by the Clinton campaign.

Some of the posts specifically targeted voter demographics, including Latinos and African Americans, framing “Voting from home” as an option.

Mackey was alleged to be conspiring with other social media users, strategizing in private chat rooms to promote Donald Trump’s campaign.

However, the appellate court found the evidence lacking. Judge Debra Ann Livingston remarked that simply posting a meme does not suffice to prove a violation of federal law. She noted, “The government had a responsibility to demonstrate that Mackey had intentionally coordinated with others to achieve that goal,” which they could not establish.

The judge pointed out that aside from the meme itself, the primary evidence consisted of exchanges in private Twitter groups. Yet, the prosecution failed to show that Mackey was privy to these discussions, concluding, “Only the circumstantial evidence presented was insufficient to prove Mackey’s knowledge of any agreement.”