Social media companies are facing calls to remove videos which glorify dangerous driving following the A66 collision that killed seven people, including two serving Cleveland Police officers.
Defence minister Luke Pollard has criticised platforms for allowing footage which appears to “celebrate dangerous behaviour on our roads”, amid concerns that reckless driving is being filmed and uploaded specifically to attract views and, in some cases, generate money.
The intervention follows Saturday’s devastating collision in which a Volkswagen Passat travelling the wrong way along the A66 collided head-on with a marked Cleveland Police vehicle.
Police officers PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, were killed in the collision.
Five young men travelling in the Passat also died.
Cleveland Police named them as Michael Robert Cahill, 23; Theo Rae, 17; Cole Robert Worthy, 16; Jacob Matusiak, 23; and Makai Saddington, 18.
Family Liaison Officers are continuing to support the families of all seven people who died.
High-speed social media footage emerges
Following the collision, it emerged that at least one passenger in the Passat had previously appeared in social media footage involving alleged reckless driving.
One TikTok video, reportedly filmed in May, shows an 18-year-old in an Audi being driven at speed through a residential area while a police vehicle follows with its blue lights activated.
The footage had been edited to music and uploaded to social media.
There is currently no suggestion that the earlier video directly caused or was connected to Saturday’s fatal collision, and Cleveland Police continue to investigate why the Passat was travelling in the wrong direction.
However, the emergence of the footage has intensified concerns about videos which appear to glamorise dangerous or illegal behaviour behind the wheel.
Pollard said the Government has contacted platforms carrying similar material and called on technology companies to take greater responsibility for what is distributed through their services.
He said:
“They know exactly what content is on their site. They know how their algorithm works. And they know people post outrageous content to get views, sometimes for money.”
He said platforms must “step up” and remove material depicting illegal dangerous driving.
Online Safety Act powers
The Government has indicated that powers available under the Online Safety Act can be used to tackle illegal material distributed through social media platforms.
Technology companies have duties to assess the risk of users in the UK encountering illegal content and to take appropriate action against material covered by the legislation.
Ofcom has separately stressed requirements designed to protect children from harmful material, including certain violent content and dangerous challenges.
The regulator launched an investigation into TikTok’s compliance with child-safety requirements in July.
Meanwhile, the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the A66 tragedy remains ongoing, with Cleveland Police working to establish exactly how and why the Passat came to be travelling on the wrong carriageway before the fatal collision.
