Grieving mum suing TikTok says hearing was 'painful'

The first hearing in the United States was described as deeply painful by a British mother suing TikTok following her son's death. Ellen Roome, 49, of Gloucestershire, has been campaigning since her 14-year-old son Julian Jools Sweeney died at home in Cheltenham in This week, she travelled to Delaware with a group of parents as part of a lawsuit alleging that their children all died while attempting a blackout challenge.We specifically prohibit content that promotes or promotes harmful behavior," a TikTok spokesperson said.

We now have to wait for the judge to determine whether the lawsuit is dismissed or not we are encouraged to proceed to the discovery stage,

Roome said on Friday in a post on social media.

This is about motions and procedures for the court. For us, it is about our children. Our dead children.

The lawsuit, brought by the Social Media Victims Law Center in the Superior Court of Delaware, charges that Jools, Isaac Kenevan, 13, died while attempting an online challenge. According to the company, the children's deaths were

the inevitable result of ByteDance's engineered addiction-by-design and programming decisions,

which were "aimed at maximizing their TikTok participation by any means appropriate.

Roome left the financial industry for 18 years to campaign for Jools' Law, which guarantees parents the right to access their deceased children's information without a court order. She is also calling for greater access to social media to increase the safety of children online. A coroner delivered a narrative verdict at his inquest and ruled out suicide following Jools' death. Herson died after an online challenge went wrong, according to the roome. Roome has been trying to obtain records from TikTok and ByteDance, which she believes might give an insight as to what happened.

Roome's online update said,

Listening to law argue abstract topics, while losing our life behind every word was deeply painful. This is our lived experience, our loss, and our determination to find the truth and safeguard other children.

Whatever the outcome, we showed up. We spoke for our children. And we will keep going.

'Deepest sympathies'

TikTok has filed a request to dismiss the lawsuit, arguing that UK residents are suing US entities that do not run the social media company's operations in the United Kingdom, and that US law prohibits liability for third-party content on the website. TikTok's spokesperson said that their deepest sympathies remain with the families, and that

information that promotes or promotes harmful conduct

is strictly forbidden on the website.

We as a business, we comply with the UK's stringent data privacy legislation,

they said. According to reports, the internet battle, which the parents claim is to blame for their children's deaths, has been blocked on TikTok since 2020. Follow BBC Gloucestershire onFacebook,XandInstagram. On email or viaWhatsApp, please submit your story ideas.