Local UK councils urge Facebook, Twitter to warn against NekNominations

Local UK councils have reportedly urged social networking giants to warn people against NekNominations and persuade them to not participate in the absurd and viral bets.

NekNomination is an online fad for which participants consume, on video, their chosen amount of alcohol, before posting the video as a challenge for others to do the same.

The Local Government Association (LGA) has demanded that clear and prominent messages be displayed on the likes of Facebook and Twitter to highlight the hazards of the drinking craze, metro.co.uk reports.

The drinking craze has been attributed to deaths of five people in the UK and Ireland, including the 20-year-old Bradley Eames, from Nottingham, who consumed two pints of neat gin.

Although, some schools have given warnings at assemblies and on notice boards, and a number of councils were launching Internet safety campaigns, LGA stressed that more should be done from the social networking sites in question, who should issue warnings themselves.

LGA's Katie Hall said that it was an utterly reckless and totally irresponsible craze, which had tragically claimed lives, adding that more should be done to highlight the dangers and persuade people not to participate.

Hall further said that social media operators have a responsibility to provide health warnings to user groups and individuals, the report added.