TikTok has declined to appear before an Irish parliamentary committee examining dangerous driving content online, following a crash that killed five teenagers in County Kildare on Sunday.
The Oireachtas Media Committee, chaired by Labour TD Alan Kelly, had invited TikTok to a public hearing on September 23 to discuss videos showing reckless driving. The company cited ongoing investigations by An Garda Síochána and media regulator Coimisiún na Meán as reasons for not attending, and said it was the only video-sharing platform asked to testify. TikTok offered a private briefing instead.
Kelly called the decision a "slap in the face to the Irish public." Five teenagers died when their car, traveling the wrong way on the M9 motorway, crashed into a family vehicle. Four people in the other car — three women and a seven-year-old boy — were injured, two critically. Tusla confirmed one of the deceased teenagers was in state care. A fundraiser for the injured family has raised nearly €600,000.