Social media firms must be held to account over videos of illegal driving, says Cork senator

Social media firms need to have a stronger response to the posting of videos of criminal activity, including speeding, a Cork senator has said.

Fine Gael’s Eileen Lynch was commenting in the wake of the horrific collision in Co Kildare at the weekend, in which five teenagers were killed after a BMW was driven the wrong way down the M9 motorway, colliding with a car carrying a family going on holiday.

Ms Lynch said that the EU Digital Services Act provides an important framework for dealing with illegal content online, but said it is unclear whether those mechanisms 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.

She said: “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. Road users, parents, schools, gardaí, and road safety organisations have roles to play in all safety matters. But so, too, do social media companies.”

Meanwhile, Garda enquiries are ongoing after a driver failed to remain at the scene of a collision near Fermoy yesterday morning.

Gardaí responded to a report of a single vehicle road traffic collision involving a car that occurred on the M8 southbound near Junction 14, Fermoy, at about 7.50am. A Garda spokesperson said enquiries are ongoing.