Media regulator Coimisiún na Meán is in talks with social media giant TikTok amid concerns about the platform’s stance on hosting content related to careless, reckless, and dangerous driving.
The media regulator wishes to obtain more information as to the platform’s response to the presence of such content.
Minister for Justice, Jim O’Callaghan, said that it was the responsibility of Coimisiún na Meán to ensure that media platforms swiftly respond to the uploading of such content.
This comes after the death of five teenage boys on the M9 motorway who were travelling in a vehicle which was being driven at speed in the wrong direction.
The vehicle collided with another car which was carrying three women and a seven-year-old boy. Two of the women remain in a critical condition in hospital while the third female and the boy are in a serious condition.
The teen boys killed in the crash have been named locally as Joe Carthy from Athy, Co Kildare; Alex McCarthy from Carlow; Kamil Pustkowski from Limerick; Jeremy O’Brien and Jack Kennedy.
Deputy General Secretary of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors (AGSI) Kevin Bolger called for urgent action in the wake of the tragedy.
Speaking on Morning Ireland, he said, “Here we are in the midst of another tragedy where the promises are still coming. We’re not seeing any tangible actions.
“I’m not saying this stuff isn’t happening in the background, but there needs to be an expedited response to this because things aren’t getting better,” Mr Bolger said.
“This was flagged at the time: these robust responses needed to come quick, because we have members in control rooms, particularly.
“We have sergeants and inspectors in control rooms who are in control of all these vehicles, and they have to make decisions while pursuits are ongoing, which goes against every grain of their being as a police person, to stand down members from a pursuit. Because they could make things worse,” he added.
Mr Bolger said it was an issue of some concern that pursuit training would not begin until the end of this year.
“I would question how much can be delivered in that period of time,” he said, adding, “We will work with them absolutely to get it to as many people as we can.”
He pointed to upcoming events which will place a burden on Garda resources, pointing to the EU Presidency and the “jam-packed” schedule of policing the visit of US President Donald Trump.
“There’s a lot of constant resourcing requirements in relation to policing as it is,” he said.
Speaking on the timeline of introducing fully chase-trained officers, he said, “The capacity has to be built into it to make it work, and realistically speaking, you’d want a couple of people working on every unit.”
“But there’s no point in having one singular trained person working in an area because if you have to do an effective containment and stop, that will take more than one trained driver and one trained vehicle driver,” he said.