‘I believe my son, 14, died in an online challenge that went wrong – I cried when Starmer announced a social media ban’
As Sir Keir Starmer announced a social media ban for under-16s on Monday morning, Ellen Roome was among seven grieving parents sitting on the sofa watching in a television studio.
They already had a good idea of what would be announced after years of campaigning and a meeting with the prime minister last month, but emotions were still running through them when it was announced.
“Sitting with other bereaved parents was so important and so emotional because we had all done this so desperately to make a difference and our voices had been heard and it seemed like change was coming,” Ms Roome said. Independent.
He also told PA: “We were all in tears… it was such a powerful but important moment.”
It will be just over four years since Ms Roome’s son Jools Sweeney died in 2022, aged 14. Defined The schoolboy, a “genuinely happy, fun-living, popular kid”, had been out playing football and eating pizza with friends all day long before he was found dead at the family home in Cheltenham.
Ms Roome suspects his death may be linked to an online challenge gone wrong.
Since his death, she has been campaigning with other online parents to improve online safety, as well as fighting for her search history to be published.
She met Sir Keir last month as part of government consultations ahead of the social media ban announced today. The restrictions, which will come into effect at Christmas and come into force in the spring of next year, will hold tech companies, rather than children, responsible for sanctions if they fail to comply.
Finer details of how it will work will be revealed by science, innovation and technology minister Liz Kendall on Monday afternoon.
Ms Roome said: “We campaigned hard to really make a difference and [Sir Keir] It certainly looks like he listened. Just a month ago I was at a meeting with him in Downing Street and he seemed to have embraced what we said, that as a group of brave parents we should actually make a difference to other children in the UK.
“It’s too late for our children, but we can do something for the remaining children.”
He added: “I’ve always said if I can do something positive with the loss of my child and I aim to do that… and that’s [Sir Keir] “It seems to be putting the wheels in motion to actually do something about this.”
At the inquest following Jools’ death, the coroner returned a verdict of her death as suicide, which he could not rule out.
Roome, who said that his son has not shown any signs of depression since then, said that he asked social media companies for his son’s browsing history to shed light on why his son died, but so far it has been rejected.
But he now hopes to launch a new inquest under changes to the Online Safety Act, in which the coroner could request information from tech companies.
He said: “I will stop campaigning until someone says there is nothing else. I don’t know why my son is not alive and that is unacceptable. No parent should have to live the rest of their life not knowing why their child is not alive.”
“It feels good that we made a difference today.”
