Britain takes aim at online culture glorifying deadly driving

A dangerous social media trend involving young people driving on the wrong side of major roads has prompted the British government to call on social media companies to remove content that glorifies reckless driving, CNN reports.

The warning follows a series of fatal crashes in Britain and Ireland. Authorities are investigating whether some incidents were linked to people recording or sharing dangerous driving online for views and likes.

In one recent incident, two police officers and five young people were killed near Middlesbrough after a Volkswagen Passat travelling on the wrong side of the road collided with a marked police car. The Passat's occupants were aged between 17 and 23.

According to the BBC, a now-deleted TikTok account believed to belong to one of the teenagers contained a video from March 2025 showing him and four others apparently involved in a police chase. Another reportedly showed a speedometer reading 100mph (160kph).

The two officers were named as Matthew Blades, 37, and Tom Clough, 38. Police later said 12 people had been arrested as part of an investigation into criminal activity before the crash.

British Defence Minister Luke Pollard called on social media companies to remove videos showing dangerous driving.

“There’s lots of content online on social media platforms of people celebrating dangerous driving,” Pollard told the BBC, adding that the government would use powers under the Online Safety Act to ensure dangerous content was removed.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said people sharing footage that glorifies dangerous driving were “doing something that’s truly reprehensible.”

TikTok said it was monitoring content linked to the Middlesbrough crash and removing videos and accounts that breached its rules. Meta said content promoting high-risk viral challenges is removed, while reckless-driving imagery that could result in death or life-threatening injuries is restricted for users under 18, with some exceptions.

The issue has also raised concern in Ireland, where five teenagers were killed earlier this month after a car travelled the wrong way down a motorway and collided with another vehicle. Three women and a boy in the other vehicle were seriously injured.

Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly said the crash demonstrated how “irresponsible and dangerous driving on the wrong side of the motorway is”. He said such behaviour was particularly appalling when carried out for social media likes.

Irish broadcaster RTÉ reported that 62 incidents involving vehicles travelling the wrong way on motorways had been recorded in Ireland so far this year, 32% more than during the same period last year.

Mary Aiken, a professor of cyberpsychology at Capital Technology University in Washington, DC, said social media had changed reckless driving by allowing it to be recorded and widely shared.

Aiken told CNN that filming dangerous driving could create a “perceived distance from real-world danger”, making it feel like “a game or a live performance”, with likes and views providing immediate social rewards.

She said social media companies should find it “extremely straightforward” to remove content glorifying “criminal and high-risk behavior.”

TikTok said it removes content that glorifies violence or promotes crimes through human moderation, detection technology and user reports. It said 99.1% of content removed for violating its policies on violent and criminal behaviour between January and March was taken down before being reported.

Matt Storey, the police commissioner for Cleveland, said it was too early to determine what caused the Middlesbrough crash. He described filming while driving as “absolutely ridiculous” and “idiotic.”

Tributes have been paid to the two officers. Clough’s family described him as a “hero” who was “willing to help anyone for any reason”, while Blades’ wife called him “an adored son and brother” and “the most fun uncle.”

Pollard said he wanted to await the police investigation before reaching conclusions about the cause of the crash.

By Aghakazim Guliyev