Twitter and Facebook should post ‘shock cautions’ to tackle NekNomination craze, says Local Government Association
The Local Government Association (LGA) is urging social media platforms to post health warnings over the social media drinking game ‘NekNomination’, which has so far been linked to five deaths in the UK.
The association, which represents almost 400 councils in England and Wales, said it believes social media operators have a “responsibility” when it comes to spelling out the risks, and suggests the social media giants post messages similar to “shock cautions emblazoned on cigarette packets”.
The craze involves participants filming themselves downing vast amounts of alcohol, nominating someone to continue the game, and then posting the video on social media sites.
Katie Hall, chair of the LGA's Community Wellbeing board, said: "This is an utterly reckless and totally irresponsible craze which has tragically claimed lives. More should be done to highlight the dangers and persuade people not to participate.
"We believe social media operators have a responsibility to provide health warnings to user groups and individuals. The LGA is looking for these corporations to show leadership and not ignore what is happening on their sites. We are urging Facebook and Twitter executives to sit down with us and discuss a way forward which tackles this issue head on.”
The announcement comes after the Office for National Statistics said the game could reverse recent successes in cutting alcohol-related deaths.