Irish TDs raise prospect of criminal liability for social media directors over dangerous driving videos

From the Newshound archive · first published 23 September 2026 · last updated 24 September 2026.

Irish lawmakers have threatened to hold TikTok, Meta and Google directors personally criminally liable after the platforms failed to answer basic questions about dangerous driving content watched by users. The grilling came before the Oireachtas Media committee on Wednesday, sparked by a fatal M9 crash in Co Kildare in August in which five teenagers died after a vehicle travelling the wrong way struck oncoming traffic. Zachary Hecht, TikTok's global head of trust and safety, admitted the platform could not say how many times dangerous videos had been viewed before removal, even when given a second chance to answer.

Committee chairman Alan Kelly called TikTok's lack of data "deeply concerning," adding that he had witnessed dangerous content first-hand when his 16-year-old daughter showed it to him.

TikTok removed 42,000 dangerous activity posts in the first half of 2026, but Irish public policy head Susan Moss refused to give view counts, citing the firm's reluctance to risk publishing an inaccurate figure.

Meta removed just two Ireland-originated wrong-way driving videos between December and September, while Google said fewer than 10 dangerous Irish driving channels had been taken down since July.