but if you make a youtube stunt that hurts nobody you can get 20 years in prison and the FAA acts like you besmirched the stellar reputation of the aviation industry.
In an organisation which is connected to the government in many ways through partnerships and contracts, putting a face to a crime is much harder to do. There's no single accountable person who can be thrown under the bus.
It was more a collection of bad actions by actors that had their own motives but nothing that was ever explicitly mean to hurt people.
(Assuming you're referring to 737 MAX)
So a strict rule like that risks setting up a formal scapegoat situation which could then lead to the opposite effect.
Hey, I'm already for it, you don't have to sell it to me.