The government has given its full backing to Ofcom to take “tough action” against social media platforms that fail to remove videos that depict dangerous driving after a crash that killed seven people near Middlesbrough.
The collision in the early hours of Saturday, in which PC Matthew Blades and PC Tom Clough died, occurred when a Volkswagen Passat carrying five people aged between 23 and 17 crashed head-on with a marked armed response vehicle while driving the wrong way on the A66.
The five people in the Passat – Cole Robert Worthy, 17, Theo Rae, 17, Makai Saddington, 18, Michael Robert Cahill, 23, and Jacob Matusiak, 23 – were also pronounced dead at the scene.
The Passat was being pursued by police, who began following it after receiving intelligence of “multiple incidents” related to a vehicle matching its description. Police chased the car for seven minutes before it started to drive against the flow of traffic on the A66, at which point officers aborted the pursuit and remained on the correct side of the carriageway.
The car, which is believed to have had cloned plates, then collided with Blades and Clough’s vehicle about 10 seconds later.
Concerns have been raised about a link between the incident and videos that appear on social media platforms showing intentionally dangerous driving such as travelling the wrong way up a road, filmed by the occupants of the cars and posted online.
A No 10 spokesperson said Ofcom would have the government’s “full backing to take tough action” in its attempts to remove such videos from platforms such as TikTok, where there are a growing number of posts by people who have filmed themselves driving dangerously.
They said: “The glorification of dangerous driving for clips and entertainment is utterly disgraceful and that is why we have raised the issue of this appalling content with social media companies since the tragedy, and the secretary of state for culture, media and sport is clear that it should be removed in line with their legal obligations.”
Andy Burnham criticised people who post such content. The prime minister told reporters during a visit to Kyiv on Monday that “anybody who glorifies dangerous driving is doing something that’s truly reprehensible”.
The defence minister Luke Pollard urged social media platforms to “step up” and remove posts that promote or encourage dangerous driving, which have become prevalent.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, Pollard said his department had “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.
“I think we all need to give the police time, but 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. I want to see social media companies step up.
“It’s one of the reasons they’ve argued against some of the regulations, saying they can police themselves. Well this is the perfect opportunity to demonstrate it. Remove the content that celebrates dangerous behaviour on our roads. 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.
“But if the social media platforms were to regulate themselves and remove it in the first place, not allow their algorithm to share this type of content, because they know exactly what type of content that algorithm is designed to share, then I think we’d be in a better place.”
An Ofcom spokesperson said social media platforms were required under the Online Safety Act to minimise children’s exposure to content that encourages dangerous stunts and challenges, with TikTok already under investigation by the regulatory body over worries about the effectiveness of its age-checking software.
They 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.”
TikTok has denied that its content puts children at risk, claiming that it prohibits content that could cause significant physical harm, including dangerous driving, from being viewed, and that it removes any videos and accounts that break its rules.
The A66 crash came just under a week after five teenagers died in a crash involving a car driving in the wrong direction on a motorway in Ireland. A vehicle driving the wrong way of the M9 in County Kildare collided with a car containing four people, all of whom were taken to hospital with serious injuries.
