TikTok declines Oireachtas invitation over dangerous driving content

TikTok has declined an invitation to appear before an Irish parliamentary committee to discuss its handling of content that glorifies dangerous driving, following a crash that killed five teenagers. The social media platform cited ongoing official investigations and noted that it was the only company asked to attend.

The Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport had invited TikTok executives to a meeting on September 23. Committee chair Alan Kelly, a Labour TD, said the session was sought to understand how the platform identifies, removes, and prevents the amplification of videos showing illegal or reckless activity on roads. The invitation came after a fatal collision on the M9 motorway in County Kildare on August 17, where five teenage boys died after their car drove the wrong way and collided head-on with another vehicle. Four people in the second car, a family including a young boy, sustained serious injuries.

In a letter to the committee, TikTok's Head of Public Policy, Susan Moss, stated the company could not appear while investigations by An Garda Síochána and the media regulator Coimisiún na Meán were ongoing. The letter also pointed out that...