Ellen Roome, who with other grieving parents has taken TikTok to court, has spoken of her grief following the death of happy-go-lucky teenager Jools Sweeney
A grieving mum has begged TikTok to let her see what her teenage son was watching on his phone just before he died.
Ellen Roome is taking on the tech giant ByteDance, which owns TikTok, after becoming aware of reports linking children’s deaths to online “challenges” on social app. As her 14-year-old son, Jools Sweeney, had died in unclear circumstances, Ellen tried to access his social media accounts — but tech firms blocked her.
Now, Ellen — with other grieving parents — have launched a wrongful death suit against TikTok in a bid not only to gain access to their children’s data, but to force greater accountability over what content is allowed on the platform. The 49-year-old mum said: “The fact we were there at all tells you everything you need to know about these companies… Parents should not have to cross continents to fight multinational technology companies just to find out what happened to their child when they die.”
The tech giant had tried on Friday to get the case thrown out, stating, among other things, that established US law bars liability for third-party content on the platform. However, the case continues in Delaware — where TikTok is incorporated.
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Ellen left the court in tears following the first hearing last week. The mum, who will hear an outcome to the case in within 90 days, continued: “The lawyer told me that simply getting this far is a ‘win’, but it doesn’t feel that way when the loss of your child is being reduced to abstract points in a courtroom. It was incredibly painful. At one point during the hearing I wrote in my notebook, ‘I’m angry and I’m sad.'”
Ellen found Jools unconscious on his bedroom floor in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, in April 2022. After frantic attempts to save his life, Jools — christened Julian — was pronounced dead at the scene.
“I know everything about Jools’ last day on Earth up to about the final half hour of his life — offline at least. And I won’t stop until I know exactly what happened during those last minutes,” Ellen told the Daily Mail.
In the bewildering aftermath of Jools’ death, Ellen became aware of the online “challenges”. One in particular — often referred to as the “blackout challenge” — involved deliberately restricting oxygen to the brain until a brief euphoric state is achieved from nearly losing consciousness. If miscalculated, it can quickly lead to seizures, brain damage and death.
But the coroner at Jools’ inquest recorded what’s known as a narrative verdict, emphasising he could not return a verdict of suicide as he “couldn’t be sure Jools was in a suicidal mood”.
And so, desperate for more information, Ellen asked social media platforms for access to her son’s data, only to be met with obfuscation and stonewalling. By March 2024, she had sold her business and begun the fight for access to her son’s app data, which continues to this day. She is also applying to the High Court for a fresh inquest so that a coroner can apply for Jools’ data.
It is believed the online challenge which Ellen and other parents say is responsible for their children’s deaths has been blocked on TikTok since 2020. A spokesperson for TikTok told the Daily Mail their “deepest sympathies” remain with the families and ‘content that promotes or encourages dangerous behaviour’ is strictly prohibited on the platform. The Mirror has contacted TikTok for further comment.
