'Get me famous’: TikTok accounts rack up thousands of views with stolen cars and garda pursuits
TikTok has banned several accounts linked to teenagers involved in reckless driving and stolen car incidents following a fatal crash in Ireland. Authorities are investigating the role of social media validation in encouraging dangerous behavior among youth.
Why it matters
This incident highlights the growing concern over how social media algorithms and 'clout-chasing' culture contribute to real-world criminal activity.
TIKTOK HAS BANNED the account of one of the teenage boys who died in a fatal crash on the M9 near Athy on Sunday, as questions grow over the role of social media posts in encouraging reckless driving among young people.
An account that posted from the inside of a stolen car that travelled the wrong way up the M50 the Sunday before last has also been banned – it had garnered over 4,000 likes and over 5,000 shares.
Five boys aged in their teens died when the car they were travelling in drove into oncoming traffic on the motorway, causing a head-on collision.
Four people in another vehicle, including a mother and her seven-year-old son, were seriously injured.
The five boys have been named as Jack Kennedy, Kamil Pustkowski, Joe Carthy, Alex McCarthy and Jeremy O’Brien.
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