Five British families are taking on social media giant TikTok in the US courts, alleging that viral 'challenges' on the platform led to the deaths of their children. The parents are demanding the company be held accountable as they prepare for a pivotal first hearing in their legal battle.
The Fight for Accountability in Delaware
Appearing on BBC Breakfast, Ellen Roome, mother of 14-year-old Jools Sweeney who died in 2022, explained the significance of the upcoming hearing in Delaware. The lawsuit, filed by the Social Media Victims Law Centre, targets TikTok and its parent company ByteDance. Ms Roome stated the hearing is a 'motion to dismiss' where TikTok will attempt to have the case thrown out. The families are fighting to proceed to the discovery stage, where they hope to obtain their children's data from the platform.
'TikTok is incorporated in Delaware which is why we filed a lawsuit there,' Ms Roome explained from the US. She was joined by Liam Walsh, father of 13-year-old Maia Walsh, who also died in 2022. The lawsuit claims the deaths of Jools Sweeney, Isaac Kenevan (13), Archie Battersbee (12), Noah Gibson (11), and Maia Walsh were 'the foreseeable result of ByteDance's engineered addiction-by-design'.
Tragic Losses and a Sinister Online Trend
The central allegation focuses on the so-called 'Blackout Challenge', a sinister viral trend that encourages children to choke themselves until they lose consciousness. The lawsuit links this challenge directly to the children's deaths.
Jools Sweeney was found dead in his bedroom in Cheltenham. While a coroner could not confirm his state of mind, his mother believes his engagement with online challenges was a factor. 'Jools did a lot of online challenges,' Ms Roome said, fearing he fell victim to this dangerous trend. For her campaigning on children's online safety, she was awarded an MBE in the New Year Honours and is pushing for 'Jools' Law' to grant parents access to a child's social media accounts after their death.
Lisa Kenevan, from Basildon, Essex, who lost her son Isaac, told the BBC: 'These videos seem to be all very, very innocent and all very childlike and that's the danger, they're just pursuing our children.'
Hollie Dance, mother of Archie Battersbee from Southend, Essex, is another plaintiff. Archie was found unconscious at home in April 2022 and died in Royal London Hospital that August after life support was withdrawn. His parents believe a social media challenge caused his death.
Seeking Answers in a Child's Digital Footprint
The case highlights the desperate search for answers within a child's digital activity. At an inquest hearing for Maia Walsh last March, the Hertfordshire Coroners' Court heard disturbing details about her online world. The teenager, who died weeks before her 14th birthday, had made troubling posts, including stating 'I don't think I'll live past 14.'
Lawyers revealed Maia followed hashtags like 'broken', 'depression', and 'crying child' and had at least four TikTok accounts, two of which her family cannot access. One account username 'correlated with the month of her passing', potentially indicating an intent. Barrister Jessica Elliott said, 'We don't have the full picture… We've only really got the partial picture,' emphasising the need for data from TikTok to understand 'how Maia's online world was interacting with her mental state.'
Ms Roome summarised the families' mission: 'This is about accountability… What happens online does not stay online. The impact is real, and for too many families, devastating.' She stressed the action is not about banning the internet but about stopping platforms from being 'addictive by design' and exposing children to harm.
TikTok has stated it does not allow content promoting dangerous activities and claims it proactively removes 99% of such content before it is reported. The company also says it directs users searching for dangerous terms to its Safety Centre. The families, now joined by Louise Gibson, mother of Noah Gibson, await the court's decision as they continue their fight for justice and safer online spaces.
