TikTok and other social media firms told to remove “reprehensible” dangerous driving videos
A crash that killed seven people over the weekend – including two police officers – has led to calls for more action from social media companies
Social media platforms have been urged to remove images and video that glorify dangerous driving following an incident in which two police officers died whilst chasing a car that was driving down the wrong side of the A66 dual carriageway.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, defence Minister, Luke Pollard, said: “There’s lots of content online on social media platforms of people celebrating dangerous driving, celebrating driving inappropriately on our roads down the wrong side of the roads, behaving incredibly badly”.
Pollard claimed that social media companies have “argued for many years they don’t need to be regulated, that they can police themselves. So this is a challenge for them: remove that content.”
A TikTok account belonging to one of the five passengers who also died, Makai Saddington, previously shared videos of dangerous driving – these have since been removed. That said, a statement by Cleveland Police, claimed that “at the current time, there is no evidence to indicate that filming of the activities that took place on Friday night and Saturday morning has taken place for the purposes of TikTok.”
Regardless, in a visit to Kyiv, Ukraine, on Monday, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said: “Anybody who glorifies dangerous driving is doing something that’s truly reprehensible.”
In the meantime, it’s understood No 10 is in contact with TikTok surrounding the issue. The 2023 Online Safety Act was designed to limit young people’s interaction with dangerous content such as this, with TikTok also currently under investigation by the media regulator Ofcom for non-compliance.
An Ofcom spokesperson said: “Under the Online Safety Act, platforms must minimise children’s exposure to violent material and content promoting dangerous challenges. In July, we launched an investigation into TikTok’s compliance with its child safety duties, and we’ve shown we’ll take action if evidence suggests companies are falling short.”
Auto Express has approached TikTok for comment.
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