Online Safety Act Must Target Dangerous Driving Videos

Recent fatal crashes linked to online joyriding videos highlight gaps in the Online Safety Act, prompting calls for immediate legislative expansion.

Recent fatal road incidents, including a collision near Middlesbrough that killed five youths and two police officers, Matthew Blades and Tom Clough, have drawn attention to the prevalence of dangerous driving videos on social media platforms. These videos, which often depict illegal speeding and reckless manoeuvres on public roads, are easily accessible and are seen as encouraging similar behaviour among young people.

Despite existing legislation like the Online Safety Act, which targets content related to child exploitation and self-harm, material glorifying dangerous driving appears to have slipped through current regulatory frameworks.

• The Online Safety Act was passed to hold tech companies responsible for content like child sexual exploitation and self-harm, with fines for non-compliance.
• Social media platforms, including TikTok and YouTube, host numerous videos showing individuals speeding and driving dangerously on public roads.
• A recent incident near Middlesbrough involved a car driving the wrong way on the A66, colliding with a police vehicle, resulting in seven deaths.
• Another similar incident in the Republic of Ireland also led to the deaths of five youths in a speeding car.
• Searches for terms like ‘speed’ and ‘driving’ on these platforms reportedly yield dozens of videos depicting illegal driving behaviours.
• Examples cited include drivers weaving through traffic at high speeds, some claiming to be on German autobahns but still showing illegal manoeuvres, and others clearly filmed in Britain.
• One YouTube video, posted six years ago, shows a driver reaching 201 mph in an Audi on a motorway and has accumulated 896,000 views.

The Online Safety Act’s Initial Focus

The Online Safety Act was primarily conceived to address the severe harms associated with online child sexual exploitation and content promoting self-harm. Its legislative intent focused heavily on protecting vulnerable individuals, particularly teenagers, from manipulation and dangerous influences encountered in private online spaces. This foundational emphasis meant that the Act’s mechanisms and enforcement priorities were initially geared towards identifying and removing content that directly impacted individuals in isolated settings, such as the ‘teenagers sitting alone in their bedrooms’ scenario described in the original reporting.

The Real-World Cost of Online Recklessness

The tragic loss of seven lives in two separate incidents underscores the immediate, life-threatening danger posed by online content glorifying reckless driving. Unlike some forms of online harm that primarily affect individuals in isolation, these videos directly contribute to a culture of dangerous behaviour on public roads, putting countless innocent lives at risk.

The ease with which such material can be found and shared suggests a significant oversight in current online safety measures, potentially leading to more preventable fatalities and severe injuries.

Who Will Enforce Existing Laws?

• Why have police forces not acted on clearly self-incriminating videos showing illegal driving, especially when the identity of drivers and locations could potentially be traced?
• What specific technical challenges do social media companies claim prevent them from proactively detecting and removing dangerous driving content, given their ability to scan for copyrighted material and child abuse imagery?
• How would an expansion of the Online Safety Act specifically define and categorize ‘dangerous driving content’ to ensure effective enforcement without overreach?

The Broader Challenge of Content Moderation

This issue fits into a broader pattern of social media platforms struggling to effectively moderate harmful content, despite public pressure and legislative efforts. Similar challenges have been observed with the proliferation of content promoting self-harm or eating disorders, where platforms have faced criticism for their slow or inconsistent responses.

While the Online Safety Act has provisions for child abuse and self-harm, the current situation with dangerous driving videos highlights how new categories of harm can emerge or be overlooked, requiring constant adaptation of regulatory frameworks and platform policies.

The ability of platforms to scan for copyrighted content suggests that the technical capacity for detection exists, but the will or specific regulatory mandate for dangerous driving content may be lacking.

Competing Interests and Responsibilities

• Social Media Companies: These platforms benefit from user engagement, which can be driven by viral content, including thrill-seeking videos. They risk significant fines and reputational damage if found non-compliant with safety regulations, but also face challenges in defining and consistently enforcing content guidelines across vast amounts of user-generated material.
• Government and Legislators: Tasked with public safety, they gain political capital by demonstrating effective regulation. However, they risk accusations of censorship or stifling online freedom if new laws are perceived as overly broad, and face the complex task of drafting legislation that is both effective and technologically feasible to enforce.
• Law Enforcement: Police forces are responsible for maintaining public order and safety, including on roads. They gain by having clear legal frameworks to prosecute dangerous drivers, but face resource constraints and jurisdictional challenges in tracing individuals based on online content, especially if platforms are uncooperative or content is globally hosted.
• The Public and Road Users: This group stands to gain significantly from safer roads and reduced fatalities. They risk becoming victims of reckless driving encouraged by online content. Their interest lies in robust enforcement and effective content removal, but they may also value free expression online.

A Clear Gap in Online Safety Legislation

The current focus of the Online Safety Act, while vital for protecting vulnerable individuals from specific harms like child exploitation and self-harm, has a glaring blind spot when it comes to content that directly incites dangerous real-world behaviour. The ease with which videos glorifying reckless driving can be found and consumed on major platforms is unacceptable, especially given the tragic, fatal consequences.

It is not enough to focus solely on harms that occur in isolation; the law must evolve to address content that actively endangers the wider public.

Social media companies possess the technological capability to detect and remove various forms of problematic content, as evidenced by their efforts against copyright infringement and child abuse material. Their failure to apply similar rigor to dangerous driving videos suggests either a lack of regulatory pressure or an unwillingness to prioritise public safety over engagement.

The government should act decisively to amend the Online Safety Act, explicitly adding the promotion of dangerous driving to its list of prohibited materials. This would provide the necessary legal leverage to compel platforms to implement effective detection and removal mechanisms, rather than allowing a dangerous loophole to persist.

Upcoming Debates on Content Regulation

• Expect increased public and political pressure on the government to amend the Online Safety Act to specifically include content promoting dangerous driving.
• Watch for statements from major social media platforms regarding their current policies and any planned changes to address this type of content.
• Monitor for any new initiatives from law enforcement agencies aimed at using online evidence to prosecute individuals engaging in dangerous driving.

Your Safety on the Roads

Your daily commute or family road trip could become significantly riskier if social media platforms continue to host videos promoting dangerous driving. The proliferation of such content normalizes reckless behaviour, potentially leading to more incidents like the recent fatal collisions. Being aware of this issue means understanding the unseen influences that contribute to road danger and recognising the importance of advocating for stronger online safety measures that protect everyone, not just those directly targeted by specific online harms.