Police officers are paying the price for social media's dangerous culture
A culture has emerged where risk-taking, criminality, and confrontation are increasingly rewarded with views and influence, writes Paul Williams, the Acting Deputy National Chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales.
The tragedy on the A66, in which seven people lost their lives, including two serving police officers, has left the policing family devastated.
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My thoughts remain with the families, friends and colleagues of PC Matthew Blades and PC Tom Clough.
Across policing, there is a collective sense of shock and grief. These were officers who put on the uniform to serve the public and, tragically, did not return home.
I'm an experienced police officer. I've got 26 years in, and I'm struggling to comprehend the complexities and the actual horror of what's happened. If I feel that way, I can only imagine the impact on the officers and staff in Cleveland who were much closer to these events and who are dealing with the aftermath firsthand.
While the circumstances surrounding the collision must be fully investigated and it would be wrong to prejudge the findings, this tragedy has brought renewed focus to a growing problem that has been concerning police officers for some time.
This issue did not begin with the events on the A66, nor should assumptions be made about any connection, but the incident has prompted a wider conversation about a culture that increasingly celebrates dangerous behaviour, confrontation and criminality online.
Every day, social media platforms are flooded with content that sensationalises dangerous driving, glorifies those who flee from police and encourages confrontation with officers. Long before the events of last weekend, officers were raising concerns about the impact this content is having.
We now see countless videos, clips and memes portraying reckless behaviour as entertainment. Individuals chase views, followers and online notoriety, often by filming criminality, police activity or highly dangerous situations and presenting them in ways designed to maximise engagement.
Increasingly, officers are deliberately baited for content. Encounters are selectively edited. Context is removed. Split-second decisions made in challenging circumstances are turned into viral clips and judged by millions of people who have seen only a fraction of the full picture.
This is not harmless entertainment. It places officers under enormous pressure, interferes with criminal investigations and risks normalising dangerous behaviour among young people.
Frontline police officers already face enough risks when responding to emergencies, protecting communities and pursuing offenders. They should not also have to worry about being filmed, manipulated online and subjected to abuse on social media simply for doing their job.
The consequences stretch beyond policing. A culture has emerged where risk-taking, criminality and confrontation are increasingly rewarded with views and influence. The more shocking the content, the greater the audience. That creates incentives which should concern all of us.
The responsibility does not lie solely with policing. Social media companies have immense power through the algorithms that decide what content is amplified and rewarded. With that power comes responsibility. Platforms cannot simply wash their hands of the consequences when content promoting dangerous behaviour is repeatedly pushed to wider audiences.
We need stronger regulation, better enforcement and more decisive action from platforms to remove content that promotes dangerous driving, glorifies criminal behaviour and vilifies those who enforce the law.
Technology companies have some of the most sophisticated tools in the world. If they can identify and promote content at scale, they can do far more to prevent harmful material spreading in the first place.
Before another tragedy occurs, we must confront the culture that is turning risk, confrontation and criminality into entertainment. Police officers are out there every day trying to keep the public safe. They should not be paying the price for an online culture that rewards danger.
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Paul Williams the Acting Deputy National Chair of the Police Federation of England and Wales.
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