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A66 crash and deaths
Defence Minister Luke Pollard urged social media companies to remove posts celebrating dangerous driving after a viral wrong-way driving trend was linked to a fatal crash on the A66 near Middlesbrough on Saturday.
“PC Tom Clough, 38, and PC Matthew Blades, 37, died”
BBC reported that PC Tom Clough, 38, and PC Matthew Blades, 37, died when a Volkswagen Passat, which officers had been pursuing until seconds before, collided with their marked armed response car, and that all five Passat occupants also died.
The BBC said the five passengers killed were Makai Saddington, 18, Michael Robert Cahill, 23, Jacob Matusiak, 23, Theo Rae, 17, and Cole Robert Worthy, 17.
In parallel, the London Evening Standard said court records show one of the men killed in the A66 crash was convicted of crimes against police officers, identifying Pc Matthew Blades and Pc Tom Clough as the officers killed and naming Cole Robert Worthy, Theo Rae, Makai Saddington, Michael Robert Cahill and Jacob Matusiak as those pronounced dead at the scene in Teesside early on Saturday.
The Evening Standard added that Saddington pleaded guilty to assaulting a police officer and was handed a 12-month conditional discharge at Teesside Magistrates’ Court on July 17.
Government pressure and TikTok
The Independent said Number 10 described the glorification of dangerous driving on social media as “utterly disgraceful” and ordered TikTok to take down videos “celebrating” the trend to drive in the wrong direction.
The BBC quoted Pollard telling BBC Breakfast that “Social media companies could take that down today, adjust their algorithms so it's not celebrated.”
The London Evening Standard reported that defence minister Luke Pollard told BBC Radio 5 Live the Government had “communicated to those social media platforms that have been hosting content that celebrates this type of dangerous behaviour on our roads to take down that content.”
Cleveland police and crime commissioner Matt Storey urged people to avoid speculation, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “it’s absolutely idiotic for anybody to be doing anything other than being completely 100% focused on the road when they’re behind the wheel of a vehicle.”
TikTok declined to give a statement in response to the Evening Standard, but said its policies strictly prohibit content that could cause significant physical harm, including dangerous driving, and that it is actively removing any videos and accounts that break its rules.
Online Safety Act and scrutiny
The BBC said the Online Safety Act framework means video content featuring illegal activity is not necessarily illegal itself, and that it is up to the social network to decide whether flagged content is illegal and act accordingly.
“Under the Online Safety Act, platforms must minimise children’s exposure”
The London Evening Standard reported that Ofcom said: “Under the Online Safety Act, platforms must minimise children’s exposure to violent material and content promoting dangerous challenges.”
The BBC added that Ofcom launched an investigation into TikTok’s compliance with its child safety duties in July and said it would take action if evidence suggests companies are falling short.
The Independent said the government has contacted TikTok, which is already under investigation by Ofcom as part of a probe into whether the platform’s age checks are effective in preventing children from seeing harmful content.
The BBC also reported that TikTok said between January and March 2026, 99.8% of the content removed for violating its policies it took down proactively, and that it is actively removing videos and accounts that break its rules, including the account believed to belong to Saddington.