A car crash that claimed the lives of five teenagers in Ireland early Sunday (Aug 16) has raised police concerns about the role social media plays in dangerous driving incidents in the country.
The teenage boys were driving in a car on the wrong side of a motorway outside Dublin when they collided head-on with another vehicle carrying three women and a boy, according to a statement by the Gardai, Ireland’s police service.
Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly said on Aug 16 that in some cases of reckless driving it is "being done for social media likes regardless of the potentially devastating impact it might have on innocent people and themselves.” He didn’t specify which platforms videos were being posted to.
The comment adds to growing global criticism of addictive designs in social media platforms and the effect they have on children. Governments around the world are drawing up a range of restrictions on children’s use of social media platforms in the wake of curbs Australia introduced last year. Irish media has reported several instances of videos posted on social media of dangerous driving incidents in recent years.
"Social media companies have a big responsibility in respect of this as well. They emphasise in their codes of practice that they will not allow any postings that glorify criminal behaviour,” Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan told reporters in Dublin on Aug 17.
"Regrettably, that hasn’t been happening, and social media companies need to step up to the mark as well in respect of their own responsibilities,” he said, adding that Irish police are in contact with the firms.
A few years ago, social video platforms garnered criticism after a "blackout challenge” trend led was linked to several deaths of children. Separately, ByteDance Co Ltd’s TikTok was fined €10mil (US$11.6mil/RM47.06mil) in 2024 by the Italian competition authority for failing to protect the safety of children and vulnerable people from a dangerous viral challenge.
Many social media companies, including TikTok and YouTube, have set policies prohibiting content that shows or promotes dangerous stunts or challenges that could lead to physical harm after years of lax enforcement that came under political scrutiny. In July, the European Union escalated a probe of TikTok under the Digital Services Act that is investigating if the platform’s recommendation systems are designed to maximise engagement by minors at the expense of their safety.
The victims in the second car remain in hospital with serious injuries, police said on Aug 17. It's the second head-on collision in Ireland involving a car travelling in the wrong direction this month. – Bloomberg
