Government Demands TikTok Remove Dangerous Driving Content After Fatal A66 Crash
Two police officers and five others died in early Saturday collision; social media platforms face scrutiny over content glorifying reckless behaviour.
Sarah Connor
A devastating crash on the A66 early Saturday morning claimed the lives of two police officers and five other individuals.
Luke Pollard declared that social media platforms have long argued for self-policing. "Well this is the perfect opportunity to demonstrate it. Remove the content that celebrates dangerous behaviour on our roads."
Pollard confirmed direct communication: "We’ve communicated to those social media platforms that have been hosting content that celebrates this type of dangerous behaviour on our roads to take down that content." He demands greater accountability, stating, "I want to see social media companies step up."
I want to see social media companies step up.
The Volkswagen Passat involved in the collision reportedly used cloned plates. A TikTok account, believed to belong to 18-year-old Makai Saddington, one of the passengers killed, shared videos appearing to show dangerous driving; these have since been removed.
Another deleted video from the same account reportedly depicted a joyride with a passenger smoking and the speedometer hitting 100mph, followed by a car being set on fire. Court records indicate Saddington was awaiting trial for alleged assault of a police officer and causing racially aggravated alarm or distress in Middlesbrough.
A similar fatal crash, claiming five teenagers, occurred in County Kildare, Ireland, just the previous weekend. Reports suggest vehicles were driven on the wrong side of motorways, all for social media likes.
Online safety regulator Ofcom investigates TikTok's compliance with child safety duties and holds the power to take action under the Online Safety Act.
TikTok declined an invitation to appear before an Irish parliamentary committee on media to discuss these videos, citing an ongoing police investigation. Matt Storey emphasized the critical need for driver focus, stating, "Without being able to say whether that was anything like involved in this case, it’s absolutely idiotic for anybody to be doing anything other than being completely 100% focused on the road when they’re behind the wheel of a vehicle."
Dangerous driving content has become a recurring, deadly issue. A motorcyclist posted a video on Instagram showing dangerous stunts and high-speed driving, captioned 'If I die, just know I sounded like this.', which garnered over 155,000 likes.
John Scott was jailed for three years and nine months for filming himself speeding at 119mph while serving a five-year driving ban. George Taylor also received a 26-month jail sentence after filming himself driving with his knees before crashing into a stationary vehicle, leaving Catherine Davies paralysed.
A fundraiser for the officers' families has already raised over £230,000. Pollard concluded that while investigations proceed, "there’s also things we can be doing in the meantime to make sure that the internet is a safer place for everyone, that doesn’t celebrate and load views and therefore financial incentives on people to generate such awful content."
He affirmed that "While that content is online, the government will be using the powers in the Online Safety Act to compel the platforms to take it down."