Fury as TikTok ‘promoting joyriding yobs being chased by cops as “thrilling & exciting”‘… after wrong-way crash killed 7

TIKTOK is allegedly promoting joyriding and police chase videos as “thrilling and exciting” after a wrong-way crash killed seven people. The fatal collision on the A66 in Middlesbrough in the early hours of Saturday morning claimed the lives of PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38. Seven people were killed in the horror wrong-way collision in the early hours of Saturday morning Credit: PA Two of the five young men had previously shared TikTok videos of them driving dangerously Credit: TikTok Five young men in a Volkswagen Passat also died in the devastating collision when the vehicle they were in ploughed into a patrol car. They have since been identified as Michael Robert Cahill, 23, Theo Rae, 17, Cole Robert Worthy, 17, Jacob Matusiak, 23, and Makai Saddington, 18. Sign up for The Sun newsletter Thank you! TikTok footage has since emerged showing Jacob Matusiak, who died in the fatal collision on Saturday, driving dangerously in the months leading up to the tragedy. Saddington had also shared clips to social media showing him driving dangerously. Footage showing dangerous driving has been described as ‘exciting’ by the platform’s AI Credit: TikTok The Sun found several videos showing dangerous driving still live on the platform Credit: TikTok It has now emerged that social media giant TikTok is promoting similar videos as “exciting.” AI generated summaries of footage of police chases and dangerous driving described the scenes as “thrilling”, the Telegraph reports. This is despite the videos breaching the social media platforms rules on banned content. TikTok has said its policies strictly prohibit content that could cause significant physical harm, including dangerous driving, and that it actively removes any videos and accounts that break its rules. Most read in The Sun However, joyriding content is still found on the social media platform with the Prime Minister branding the sharing of dangerous driving videos was “truly reprehensible.” The Telegraph reports one TikTok video, showing a motorist avoiding a police car with blue lights flashing, was promoted with an AI summary reading: “Watch the thrilling police chase in Bradford on the M606.” It was later described by generative AI as an “exciting police chase video” under a keywords section. Similar dangerous driving footage can be found on Youtube, Instagram and Snapchat with the platforms removing the content when they become aware of it. The Sun found a slew of disturbing videos on TikTok showing drivers clocking speeds of up to 148mph, driving on the wrong side of the motorway and recklessly weaving across lanes. Videos depicting incredibly hazardous driving were still being uploaded on to the site yesterday morning, with one user posting a video of a car’s speedometer clocking 125mph. Videos showing off the dangerous driving were still being uploaded to the site yesterday Credit: TikTok TikTok said its policies strictly prohibit content Credit: TikTok Some of the dangerous content has been available to watch on TikTok for almost two months, viewed by hundreds of thousands of people, and still has not been taken down. Users can receive payments ranging from a few pounds to hundreds if their views and follower counts are high enough. Yesterday, Cleveland Police crime commissioner Matt Storey branded dangerous driving trends “absolutely idiotic” when asked about one of the five young men involved in the wrong-way collision on Saturday. Hearing reports that one of the young men involved in the fatal wrong-way collision on Saturday had been filming such content, he told BBC Radio 4: “Yeah, there has been speculation around that. “Without being able to say whether that was anything like involved in this case, 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.” After the deadly smash on the A66 on Saturday, the government ordered social media platforms to remove content showing dangerous driving. Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live Defence Minister Luke Pollard called on social media platforms to act to remove posts showing dangerous driving. He told the station: “We’ve 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. “I think we all need to give the police time, but there’s also things we can be doing in the meantime to make sure that the internet is a safer place for everyone, that doesn’t celebrate and load views and therefore financial incentives on people to generate such awful content.” Twelve people were yesterday arrested in connection with the horror A66 collision. A fundraiser launched for the families of the two police officers killed in the horror A66 crash has now raised more than £800,000. PC Matthew Blades, 37, and PC Tom Clough, 38, lost their lives alongside five “joyriders” who smashed their Volkswagen Passat into a cop car while driving in the wrong direction. A fundraiser, launched by Cleveland Police, said the two police officers “paid the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty.” It read: “PC Matt Blades and PC Tom Clough were both dedicated and committed Police Officers who left their families and went to work to serve their community and protect the public. “They did not return home to their families. They leave behind heartbroken loved ones who will struggle to come to terms with the loss of their loved one. The force added they are “supporting and will continue to support” their families at this “unfathomable moment”. Launched on Sunday, the appeal has now raised more than £800,000 from over 27,000 donations. The funds will be split between both officers’ families “to assist them in any way as they try to navigate this traumatic time.” The fundraiser can be found HERE Some of the 12 are suspected of “participating in the activities of an organised crime group.” It has also since emerged that four of the five joyriders killed in the wrong-way smash had previous convictions. Cleveland Police confirmed yesterday that Worthy, Matusiak, Saddington and Rae all had previous police convictions. All four had appeared in court charged with a variety of offences. Saddington pleaded guilty to possession of a Class C drug and a knife in May 2025 and months later admitted three offences of assaulting a police officer. Meanwhile, Worthy admitted using threatening and abusive language to cause harassment, alarm and distress in October 2024. He also pleaded guilty to common assault of a police officer in April last year and failing to surrender to custody a month later. In March, Matusiak admitted using a vehicle without insurance and driving without a licence. Rae was convicted of assaulting a police officer, shoplifting, stealing cars, theft, drug possession and breaching a youth rehabilitation order. Cops have also confirmed yesterday that nine men and three women aged between 19 and 61, were arrested on suspicion of several offences. The government ordered social media platforms to remove content showing dangerous driving Credit: TikTok Some of the dangerous content has been available on TikTok for months Credit: TikTok The alleged offences include possession of a firearm and participating in the activities of an organised crime group. Cops are continuing to investigate the moments leading up to the fatal smash on Saturday. Police initially received several reports of two vehicles being driven dangerously. The first vehicle, which is believed to be a Volvo XC60, was witnessed to be ramming properties in the Middlesbrough area. The second vehicle, a Volkswagen Passat, is believed to have been associated with the activities of the Volvo XC60. The Volvo XC60 involved in the initial reports has been traced and recovered in Middlesbrough as part of the criminal investigation. Cleveland Police believes the Passat was being driven with cloned number plates and had been linked to several suspicious incidents. And just moments before the horrifying fatal smash, officers had been chasing the car in a highspeed pursuit for seven minutes through residential streets. Cops called off the pursuit when the Passat went on to the A66 because it had begun travelling the wrong way down the road. But just ten seconds later, the car slammed into a different marked police vehicle travelling correctly on the A66. Cleveland police have also said there is no evidence to indicate that filming of the activities that took place on Friday night and Saturday morning has taken place for the purposes of TikTok. The Sun has contacted TikTok for comment.