Online and child safety experts have told Metro that social media giants already have the power to take down viral videos of dangerous driving. The call comes after two fatal crashes in which seven teenagers died.
Fatal crashes prompt concern
On Saturday, seven people died when a Volkswagen Passat drove the wrong way along the A66, before smashing into a police car. One of the teens who died, Makai Saddington, 18, earlier posted TikTok videos that appeared to show himself in a police car chase.
In a separate crash, Joey Carthy, Alex McCarthy, Jeremy O’Brien, Jack Kennedy and Kamil Pustkowski, all aged between 15 and 18, also died after driving the wrong way along the M9 to get away from police in County Kildare, Ireland, earlier this month. The teens had earlier posted videos of themselves in a car chase with gardaí, the Irish police force.
Government and experts respond
Number 10 has written to social media companies, asking them to take action. Under the Online Safety Bill, platforms must proactively screen for and remove harmful material. They must also prevent underage users from being promoted illegal content, including dangerous driving, otherwise called joyriding.
Bertie Aspinall, co-founder of SafetyMode, which makes software that blocks inappropriate content on phones, says social media giants already have the tools to take down reckless driving content. ‘We’ve known for a long time that social media algorithms can rapidly spread misinformation or extremely harmful “fads”,’ he says. ‘This appears to be another example that has very sadly resulted in loss of life.’
Aspinall admits monitoring this content can be tricky, but says red flags like hashtags can make the real ones clear. ‘All of which can be used to automate and remove something evidently harmful very quickly,’ he says. ‘It’s beyond me why TikTok, for example, hasn’t done the same.’
Scott Freeman, the CEO of digital wellbeing charity The Cybersmile Foundation, says platforms should change how algorithms work. ‘Recent tragedy and deadly online trends are once again highlighting the need for social media users to be able to control their own algorithms,’ he says. ‘Platforms will never be able to protect all users from all potential harms without giving users the ability to protect themselves by controlling their exposure to harmful content on an individual basis.’
Viral dangerous driving content
Metro uncovered multiple social media posts showing people driving dangerously following the two fatal collisions, some of which have since been removed. Users have shared footage of people driving down the wrong side of the road with their doors open as police cars tail them. Another motorist appeared to switch off their headlights and go into ‘ghost mode at 120mph’, joining what other bikers call the ‘100mph club’. A TikTok video shows a motorcyclist speeding down motorway lanes, with the caption: ‘If I die, just know I sounded like this.’
Sophie Stocks, VP of education and wellbeing at the child tech safety provider Smoothwall, says for many young people, what appears in their social media feeds can shape their perceptions of what is acceptable and normal. The shock value makes these posts go viral, encouraging copycats.
One in seven drivers aged 17 to 24 film or photograph themselves with their phone while driving, according to IAM RoadSmart. Nicholas Lyes, the charity’s policy director, says drivers being ‘distracted’ on the road is nothing new, ‘but it is horrifying that some people are now actively filming and flaunting such dangerous behaviours online’.
Becky Guy, senior policy manager of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, adds that reckless driving can end in a serious collision. ‘No amount of likes, views or online attention is worth that,’ she says. ‘Safe driving should always come before creating or sharing content on social media.’
Platform actions
Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, prohibits people from posting about high-risk viral challenges and restricts under-18 users from seeing dangerous driving content. TikTok has been approached for comment. The company vowed last week to remove content that glorifies violence or promotes crimes that could harm people, as well as risky viral challenges. More than 99% of violent or criminal content it removes is done proactively. Analyses by The Times show TikTok is banning users who post driving recklessly and deleting harmful posts.
