Social media companies need to do more on illegal content

A stronger response to the online promotion of dangerous and illegal activities must be demonstrated by social media companies, a Fine Gael Senator has said.

Cork Senator Eileen Lynch said that it was unclear whether the mechanisms of the EU’s Digital Services Act are being used effectively when it comes to videos depicting dangerous criminal driving, particularly where young people may be encouraged to copy what they see.

Her comments came in the wake of a crash in Kildare on the M9 motorway on Sunday 16 August, in which five boys, who were recording a TikTok video of themselves driving the wrong way down the motorway, were killed when they collided with another car.

Three sisters and a young boy were injured in the other car and taken to hospital, where they remain is serious and critical conditions.

Under the Digital Services Act, users can report illegal content, and mechanisms are in place for platforms to process such reports appropriately.

“The principle is straightforward: if something is illegal in the real world, we cannot allow the internet to become a place where it is celebrated, encouraged and monetised without consequence,” she said.

Senator Lynch said that platforms need to be doing more to address videos being uploaded of illegal and dangerously reckless behaviour.

“Driving the wrong way down a motorway is not a stunt. It is not a challenge. It is not entertainment. It is illegal and potentially lethal.

“We would never accept somebody deliberately driving the wrong way down a motorway simply because it might attract a crowd of spectators on the roadside. We should not accept the digital equivalent either,” she said.

She said that social media companies have a role to play in all safety matters.

“Social media companies must step up and fulfil their obligations, and fast,” she said.