Ellen Roome, 49, from Gloucestershire, has described a court hearing in the United States as “deeply painful” as she joins other British parents suing TikTok over the deaths of five children. Her 14-year-old son Jools Sweeney died at home in Cheltenham in 2022 while attempting an online challenge.
Ms Roome travelled to Delaware for the hearing in a case filed by the Social Media Victims Law Centre against TikTok and its parent company ByteDance. The case alleges that Jools, Isaac Kenevan (13), Archie Battersbee (12), Noah Gibson (11), and Maia Walsh (13) died while attempting an online challenge.
Writing on Facebook, Ms Roome said: “Today we had our TikTok hearing. We now have to wait for the judge to decide whether the case is dismissed or whether we are allowed to proceed to the discovery stage. Sitting through the hearing was incredibly hard. The language was cold, technical and legal. For the court, this is about motions and procedures. For us, it is about our children. Our dead children.”
She added: “Listening to lawyers argue abstract points while the reality of our loss sat silently behind every word was deeply painful. This is our lived experience, our grief, and our determination to find the truth and protect other children.” Ms Roome sold her financial business to campaign for Jools’ Law, which would give parents the right to access their deceased child’s data without a court order.
TikTok has applied to dismiss the case, arguing that UK residents are suing US entities which do not operate or provide its services in the UK. A spokesperson said: “Our deepest sympathies remain with these families. We strictly prohibit content that promotes or encourages dangerous behaviour. Using robust detection systems and dedicated enforcement teams to proactively identify and remove this content, we remove 99% that’s found to break these rules before it is reported to us.”
