Ellen Roome, a heartbroken mother from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, has been campaigning for justice. She has since become a member of British parents suing TikTok after the death of her son, Jools, in 2022. Jools died at the age of 14, and a coroner’s inquest subsequently ruled out suicide, delivering a narrative verdict. Roome’s case is significant as it highlights the impact of social media on young individuals and the urgent need for legislative reform regarding access to children’s online accounts posthumously.
Roome is in the US these days for the first of these hearings and court actions instigated by the Social Media Victims Law Centre. She is personally lobbying for new legislation that would allow parents access to their deceased children’s social media accounts. She argues that such access is critical for contextualizing the circumstances of their deaths.
“I want to see what my child was looking at, and if it is social media, I want accountability,” Roome stated emphatically. Other parents who have lost children in the same way are joining her in this legal battle. Among them are Hollie Dance, Lisa Kenevan, and Liam Walsh. Collectively, they are holding TikTok accountable, seeking to find out what their children came across online.
The lawsuit, filed in the Superior Court of the State of Delaware, asserts that the deaths of these children are “the foreseeable result of ByteDance’s engineered addiction-by-design and programming decisions.” This claim highlights the increasing worry about ways social media platforms can affect impressionable youth.
Roome expresses her frustration with TikTok’s practices. She claims, “They make their products addictive by design so they automatically have hooked in children and adults.” Her sentiments reflect a common worry among parents. Parents want to be responsible. Many parents feel that social media companies are failing to protect their children from harmful content. “I just don’t feel they’ve got any morals about looking after our children properly,” she added.
Ahead of the hearing, and in response to the lawsuit, TikTok has focused on portraying the platform as a safe environment. A spokesperson stated, “We strictly prohibit content that promotes or encourages dangerous behaviour,” and highlighted efforts to remove harmful content proactively.
Roome and her legal team aren’t letting up on their case, even as TikTok continues to push to get it dismissed. “We have our first hearing with TikTok and it’s called a Motion to Dismiss hearing,” she explained. The stakes couldn’t be higher. If they can get through this first major hurdle, then they get to discovery, which will force TikTok to produce data on the children’s accounts—unless it has been deleted already.
“It’s about time we held them to account and said ‘what are you showing our children?’” Roome insists. Her dedication to seeking justice for her son reflects a larger movement among parents who believe social media platforms must be held responsible for the content they host and its effects on young users.
Matthew Bergman, the founding attorney of the Social Media Victims Law Centre, is representing Roome in this lawsuit. He wants us to know, though, that this fight is a group project. “Whether a person is liberal or conservative, or republican or democrat, we all love our kids and we can come together on this,” he stated, highlighting the bipartisan support for increased scrutiny of social media companies.
As Ellen Roome stands alongside other grieving parents, she hopes her efforts will lead to meaningful change and ultimately save lives. She folds her blonde bob carefully under her white, pink and navy striped sweatshirt. Drawn by equal measures of grief and resolve, she takes on one of the world’s most powerful social media corporations in this epic clash.