Britain Tells Social Media Platforms to Remove Posts Glorifying Latest Dangerous Trend
Britain’s government has urged TikTok and other social media platforms to take down viral videos glorifying a dangerous driving trend after five young men and two police officers were killed in a crash when a car was driven down the wrong side of the road.
On Saturday, August 22, Officers Tom Clough and Matthew Blades were killed when a Volkswagen was driven the wrong way along a road in northeastern England and hit their vehicle. Five individuals in the vehicle — two men, both 23, and three boys who were 17 and 18 years old — were pronounced dead at the scene.
The accident occurred as concerns grow over social media videos showing individuals driving dangerously on purpose. The videos are posted either by the driver or by the other people inside the vehicles at the time. British media reports suggest that one of the individuals who died in the Volkswagen on August 22 may have previously posted such a video on their social media.
Take it Down
United Kingdom Defense Minister Luke Pollard stated the government has told TikTok and other social media platforms to “step up” and remove such “awful content.”
In an interview with the BBC, Pollard said, “We’ve communicated to those social media platforms that have been hosting content that celebrates this type of dangerous behavior on our roads to take down that content.”
“It’s one of the reasons they’ve argued against some of the regulations, saying they can police themselves,” Pollard added. “This is the perfect opportunity to demonstrate it. Remove the content that celebrates dangerous behavior on our roads.”
Additionally, Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s office said “the glorification of dangerous driving for clips and entertainment is utterly disgraceful.”
By Sheena
Sources:
AP News: Britain tells TikTok and other platforms to remove videos glorifying dangerous driving after deaths
CNN: The latest dangerous social media trend that ‘gamifies’ deadly driving
Image by Bill Smith via Flickr – Creative Commons
