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five british families sue Tik Tok Their children died in a landmark case in the United States.
The parents, who will attend a hearing in Delaware on Friday, are the first British family to take legal action For companies In US court over child’s death.
Ellen Roome, Lisa Kenevan and Liam Walsh attended on behalf of the families, with Ms Roome saying ‘parents should not be traveling across continents to fight multinational corporations’ technology company Just wondering what happened to their children after they died.
The lawsuit alleges that TikTok’s algorithm promoted and amplified dangerous content to children, including material related to the so-called “blackout challenge.” The families claim the content contributed to their children’s deaths, and the company has repeatedly refused to release data needed to understand what their children were exposed to in the critical period before their deaths.
Ms Roome has previously said she believed her 14-year-old son Jools died after taking part in an online challenge in April 2022 independent: “Given what happened, I learned a lot about online activity that I was very naive about before.
“I thought Jools was having fun watching silly dance videos, or harmless challenges like handstands and turning T-shirts upside down. I now know there was a huge amount of harmful and illegal content out there. [Online safety law changes] Can’t come soon enough. I don’t want any other family to go through what we have to go through for the rest of our lives. “
Friday’s hearing was on a motion to dismiss, a key procedural stage in the case because, if unsuccessful, the lawsuit would move into the discovery phase, where TikTok could be legally forced to disclose internal records and children’s account data.
Despite repeated requests from the deceased’s family, they said TikTok has not yet provided this information.
independent TikTok has been contacted for comment.
As well as the US lawsuit, Ms Lum has been campaigning in the UK for Jules’ Law, which calls for the automatic saving of a child’s online data immediately after their death. The aim is to prevent potentially critical evidence from being permanently lost in the early stages of investigations and trials.
Baroness Beeban Kidron has introduced an amendment reflecting this proposal to the Crime and Policing Bill, which is currently before Parliament and will be debated in the House of Lords later this month.
Ms Roome said: “When a child dies, parents should not have to fight across continents to fight multinational tech companies to find out what happened to their child. We are attending this hearing because data that could explain the child’s death has been withheld. If platforms have nothing to hide, they should release it.”
Families said the hearing marked an “important moment” for bereaved families seeking truth, accountability and systemic change and could set an important precedent for how to address these issues. social media Companies are liable for harm to children.
The case comes amid growing global concern about the impact of algorithm-driven social media on children and the role of recommendation systems in spreading harmful content.
Policymakers in the UK and internationally will be watching the lawsuit closely as calls for greater online protections for young people grow, as governments consider greater regulation and accountability for technology companies that operate at scale.