The Latest Dangerous Social Media Trend that ‘Gamifies’ Deadly Driving
The government said platforms should remove clips that glorify reckless driving after 62 wrong-way motorway incidents were recorded in Ireland this year, officials said.
- On Monday, the British government urged TikTok and Meta to remove videos celebrating dangerous 'wrong-way' driving, following deadly crashes across the UK and Ireland involving motorists traveling against traffic.
- A weekend collision near Middlesbrough, England, killed two police officers, Matthew Blades and Tom Clough, and five young people when a Volkswagen Passat traveling on the wrong side of the road struck a marked police car.
- Irish authorities recorded 62 incidents of wrong-way driving this year, a 32% increase over last year, as Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly warned that social media 'likes' are being prioritized over public safety.
- TikTok stated it monitors and removes rule-breaking videos, while Meta restricts imagery depicting reckless driving for users under 18, both citing policies against 'high-risk viral challenges' except in fictional or professional settings.
- Mary Aiken, a professor of cyberpsychology from Capital Technology University, explained that recording risky driving creates a 'perceived distance from real-world danger,' transforming reckless behavior into a performance for social media rewards.
13 Articles
13 Articles
A dangerous TikTok trend costs twelve lives in Ireland and England. Does the ghost-driver madness reach Germany now?
Young men steal cars and drive on the highway as ghost drivers to film for Tiktok. Twelve people have been killed in two accidents in Ireland and the UK.
Twelve deaths within a few days: in Great Britain and Ireland severe ghost-drivers accidents cause horror. Authorities see a connection with a dangerous Internet trend, in which young men in particular appear to be deliberately on the wrong road. They film their life-threatening maneuvers for social media. They deliberately go into the oncoming traffic, film themselves and hope for as much attention on the net as possible: An insane social media…
Coverage Details
Bias Distribution
- 77% of the sources are Center
Factuality
To view factuality data please Upgrade to Premium
