British parents fighting TikTok in US courts over ‘blackout challenge’ deaths of their children say social media giants must be held accountable

Five British families fighting TikTok in US courts over the death of their children, believed to have been caused by viral ‘challenges’ with the app, say social media giants must be held accountable.

Ellen Roome, the mother of 14-year-old Jools Sweeney, who died in 2022, appeared on BBC Breakfast this morning as she and other parents prepared for the first hearing.

The lawsuit filed by the Social Media Victims Law Center alleges that son Jools Sweeney and other teenagers Isaac Kenevan, Archie Battersbee, Noah Gibson and Maia Walsh died during the attempted “Blackout challenge”.

The malicious viral challenge allegedly encourages children and teenagers to choke themselves until they pass out and has been linked to numerous deaths.

Speaking from Delaware, Ms Roome said: ‘This is a motion to dismiss the hearing where TikTok is trying to throw us out of court and we’re trying to stay there to take us to the next level; This will be a discovery of where they will publish our children’s data if they have not deleted it.

‘TikTok was founded in Delaware, so we filed suit there.’

Ms Roome was awarded an MBE in the New Year Honors for her work supporting children’s online safety following the death of her son Jools.

He has since been campaigning for ‘Jools’ Law’, which would allow parents to access their children’s social media accounts if they die.

Jools Sweeney (pictured with his mother) was found dead in his bedroom after committing suicide, but the coroner was unable to confirm whether he was in a suicidal mood before he died. His family believes his death may have been the result of a social media challenge gone wrong

Maia Walsh, 13, (pictured) was tragically found dead in her bedroom at her family’s Hertford home in October 2022, just weeks before she turned 14.

The grieving mother is trying to obtain data from TikTok and its parent company ByteDance that she thinks could provide clarity about her son’s death.

The lawsuit, filed last year in Delaware State Supreme Court, alleges that the children’s deaths were “the foreseeable result of ByteDance’s engineered addiction and programming decisions” that were “intended to push children to maximize their interactions with TikTok by any means necessary.”

Jools was found dead in her bedroom after committing suicide, but the coroner was unable to confirm whether she was in a suicidal mood before she died.

Ms Roome, from Cheltenham, said Jools had made “many online challenges” and she feared he was the victim of something “dangerous” like Blackout was linked to the deaths of dozens of teenagers.

The four parents fighting TikTok include Lisa Kenevan, whose 13-year-old son Isaac died after he was believed to have taken part in the Blackout challenge.

Ms Kenevan, from Basildon, Essex, previously told the BBC: “These videos all seem very, very innocent and they all seem very childish and that’s the danger – they’re just after our children.”

Hollie Dance, the mother of 12-year-old Archie Battersbee, who was found unconscious in her bedroom in Southend, Essex, after being deprived of oxygen in April 2022, is also suing TikTok.

Archie passed away at the Royal London Hospital in August 2022 after doctors made the difficult decision to switch off life support.

Ms Dance and Archie’s father, ex-husband Paul Battersbee, believe their son’s death was the result of a social media challenge gone wrong.

Four parents battling it out on TikTok include Lisa Kenevan, whose 13-year-old son Isaac (pictured) died after she was believed to have taken part in the Blackout challenge.

Ms Kenevan (pictured), from Basildon, Essex, previously told the BBC: “These videos all seem very, very innocent and they all seem very childish and that’s the danger, they’re just after our children.”

Ms Roome was joined by Liam Walsh at this morning’s BBC breakfast. Liam Walsh also filed a lawsuit against TikTok over the death of his 13-year-old daughter Maia, which he believes may have been caused by the Blackout challenge.

Maia was tragically found dead in her bedroom at the family’s Hertford home in October 2022, just weeks before she turned 14.

The schoolgirl was said to have been busy with ‘relevant’ content on the social media platform in the months before her death.

A hearing was held at Hertfordshire Coroner’s Court in March last year to consider whether Maia’s online activity before her death should be included in the investigation and what steps should be taken to obtain relevant data.

The court heard that in a disturbing post on March 6, 2022, the teenager was asked what he wanted to be when he grew up and replied: ‘I don’t think I’ll live past 14.’

In another post the same day, he said: ‘I am not afraid of what is beyond death. I’m afraid of the pain I’ll feel before it’s all over.’

Lawyers representing her devastated family said Maia followed many disturbing hashtags on the platform, including the words ‘broken’, ‘depression’ and ‘crying child’.

Jessica Elliott, of Leigh Day, said she also had an account with a username ‘associated with the month of her death’.

The lawyer said he may have expressed ‘an intention to die on a specific date in the month he died’ but added: ‘We know nothing about this account.’

Hollie Dance, the mother of 12-year-old Archie Battersbee (pictured), who was found unconscious in his bedroom in Southend, Essex, in April 2022 after being deprived of oxygen, is also suing TikTok

Hollie Dance (pictured) and Archie’s father, ex-husband Paul Battersbee, believe their son’s death was caused by a social media challenge gone wrong

He told Hertfordshire Coroner’s Court: “From her family’s perspective, this (TikTok) consumed the vast majority of Maia’s time on her device.”

He said the teen had at least four accounts, but the family did not have access to two of them, including the account that referenced the date.

‘We don’t have the whole picture… In fact, we can only see part of the picture,’ the lawyer said.

He added that it was important to get more information from the platform to understand ‘how Maia’s online world interacts with her mental state’.

Earlier this month, Ms. Roome announced online that the first four families to purchase the case were joined by Louise Gibson, the mother of 11-year-old Noah Gibson, whose story has not yet been made public.

Today Ms Roome said: ‘It’s about responsibility. We’re in Delaware to ensure social media companies are held accountable for harm that occurs on their platforms.

‘What goes online, doesn’t stay online. The impact is real and devastating for many families.

‘This is not about banning the internet. This is about preventing platforms from creating addiction by design, exposing children to harm, and avoiding responsibility when the worst happens.

‘Children deserve to be protected. Parents deserve answers. And tech companies need to be held accountable.

‘We’re here to make sure other children are safer.’

A spokesperson for TikTok said: ‘Our deepest sympathies remain with these families.

‘We strictly prohibit content that promotes or encourages dangerous behavior.

‘By using powerful detection systems and dedicated enforcement teams to proactively detect and remove this content, we remove 99 percent of those found to violate these rules before they are reported to us.

‘As a company we comply with the UK’s strict data protection laws.’