Seven people have lost their lives on the A66. Among them were two police officers who went to work to protect the public and never came home. Like every police officer in the country, I am heartbroken.

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. My colleagues in Cleveland will be feeling that grief far more deeply than I can.

The investigation must be allowed to take its course. But this tragedy has shone a spotlight on a growing problem that police officers have been warning about for years.

Let me be clear: this issue did not begin with the events on the A66, and nobody should speculate about any connection with an ongoing investigation. However, the tragedy has prompted a wider conversation about the content and behaviours being promoted across social media every day.

Every day, videos glorifying dangerous driving attract huge audiences. Every day, police officers are baited, filmed and turned into content for clicks. Criminality, confrontation and reckless behaviour are increasingly packaged as entertainment and rewarded with attention.

Long before last weekend, officers were raising concerns about a culture that encourages people to chase online notoriety at any cost. Police pursuits are edited into viral clips. Encounters with officers are stripped of context. Split-second decisions are judged by millions.

And who pays the price? Frontline officers, their families and the communities they serve.

Our members already face enough risks protecting the public. They should not also have to worry about being vilified online or finding themselves at the centre of a deliberately manufactured viral clip.

Social media companies cannot keep pretending they are powerless. Their algorithms decide what is promoted, recommended and amplified.

Dangerous driving should not be entertainment. Provoking police officers should not be a route to internet fame.
If platforms can make this content go viral, they can do far more to stop it. Before another tragedy shines a spotlight on this issue, they must act.

This op-ed was first published in the Daily Express on 26 August.