Mother suing TikTok over son's death describes 'deeply painful' hearing

A parent who is among a radical of British parents suing TikTok aft the deaths of 5 children has described a proceeding successful America arsenic "deeply painful".

Ellen Roome, 49, from Gloucestershire, has been campaigning since her 14-year-old lad Jools Sweeney died astatine location successful Cheltenham successful 2022.

She travelled to Delaware to be the proceeding successful the lawsuit filed by the Social Media Victims Law Centre against TikTok and its genitor institution ByteDance.

The lawsuit alleges Jools, Isaac Kenevan, 13, Archie Battersbee, 12, Noah Gibson, 11, and Maia Walsh, 13, died while trying an online challenge.

The bereaved parents judge their children saw the situation connected TikTok - though they don't person proof. TikTok says the information astir what their children were watching has apt been deleted nether information privateness rules.

The parents are suing TikTok successful the US for wrongful death, a process that whitethorn spot them find retired what happened to their children, if that information tin beryllium recovered.

Ms Roome wrote connected Facebook: "Today we had our TikTok hearing.

"We present person to hold for the justice to determine whether the lawsuit is dismissed oregon whether we are allowed to proceed to the find stage.

"Sitting done the proceeding was incredibly hard. The connection was cold, method and legal. For the court, this is astir motions and procedures. For us, it is astir our children. Our dormant children."

She went on: "Listening to lawyers reason abstract points portion the world of our nonaccomplishment sat silently down each connection was profoundly painful. This is our lived experience, our grief, and our determination to find the information and support different children.

"Whatever the outcome, we showed up. We spoke for our children. And we volition support going. Thank you to everyone who continues to enactment us."

Ms Roome sold the fiscal concern she had tally for 18 years to run for Jools' Law, a close for parents to entree their deceased child's information without a tribunal order.

She is besides pushing for wider changes to societal media to amended the information of children online.

Speaking antecedently astir net safety, she said: "This is not astir banning the internet. It is astir stopping platforms being addictive by design, exposing children to harm, and avoiding work erstwhile the worst happens.

"Children merit protection. Parents merit answers. And tech companies indispensable beryllium held to account.

"We are present to marque definite different children are safer."

Since her son's death, Ms Roome has been trying to get information from TikTok and ByteDance which she believes could supply an mentation arsenic to what happened.

All 5 parents judge their children died attempting a unsafe stunt known arsenic the blackout challenge.

Around for decades, it's banned connected mainstream societal media apps, including TikTok.

TikTok has applied to disregard the case, stating UK residents are suing US entities which bash not run oregon supply the societal media firm's services successful the UK.

It says established US law, specified arsenic the First Amendment, bars liability for third-party contented connected TikTok.

A spokesperson for TikTok said: "Our deepest sympathies stay with these families. We strictly prohibit contented that promotes oregon encourages unsafe behaviour.

"Using robust detection systems and dedicated enforcement teams to proactively place and region this content, we region 99% that's recovered to interruption these rules earlier it is reported to us.

"As a company, we comply with the UK's strict information extortion laws."