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'TikTok will release the information': Social media expert, criminal lawyer weigh in on speeding motorcycle videos

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Videos posted on TikTok show motorcyclists using Island highways as their own private raceways.

“It’s a flagrant disregard for the rules of the road,” said Const. Markus Anastasiades, spokesperson for the Saanich Police Department.

In some of the videos, licence plates can be seen. An obvious sticker appears on the windshield of another motorbike, and a person’s vaccine passport is clearly visible in another video.

Michael Mulligan is a criminal defence lawyer in Victoria. When asked if any of this evidence could be used in court, he says yes.

“Sure, there’s no reason why that would be inadmissible,” said Mulligan.

This is all evidence that could further the police investigation, but Mulligan says it’s not a silver bullet when it comes to a conviction.

“For example, was this video posted by the person engaged in the activity?” said Mulligan. “Has the video been modified? Was that a video of a location in the province, even?”

All these questions would be raised in court.

“The standard of proof is proof beyond all reasonable doubt,” the lawyer said.

Social media educator Jesse Miller, founder of mediatedreality.com, says though the videos appear to depict illegal activity, the social media platform is not responsible for the violations shown.

“We do have individuals that kind of highlight that social media is to blame in this incident and it’s not,” Miller said.

Miller says blaming TikTok for illegal content uploaded to its platform would be like blaming a motorcycle manufacturer for making a bike capable of reaching the speeds seen in the videos.

“What I’m learning here is that when somebody does something stupid, the public gets to understand that the consequences can become the police fully investigating you,” said Miller. “All they really have to do is figure out the two username accounts and contact TikTok and start an investigation involving a warrant … TikTok will release the information to the authorities.”

Those TikTok videos could be connected to an incident witnessed by Saanich police on Monday night.

“We started receiving tips right away after the release last night, into the evening and throughout the day today,” said Anastasiades.

Police are still looking for any dashcam video of three motorcycles clocked at 270 kilometres per hour along the Pat Bay Highway near Elk Lake. 

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