[ad_1]
A mother who is among a group of British parents suing TikTok after the deaths of five children has described a hearing in America as “deeply painful”.
Ellen Roome, 49, from Gloucestershire, has been campaigning since her 14-year-old son Jools Sweeney died at home in Cheltenham in 2022.
She travelled to Delaware to attend the hearing in the case filed by the Social Media Victims Law Centre against TikTok and its parent company ByteDance.
The case alleges Jools, Isaac Kenevan, 13, Archie Battersbee, 12, Noah Gibson, 11, and Maia Walsh, 13, died while trying an online challenge.
The bereaved parents believe their children saw the challenge on TikTok – although they don’t have proof. TikTok says the data around what their children were watching has likely been deleted under data privacy rules.
The parents are suing TikTok in the US for wrongful death, a process that may see them find out what happened to their children, if that data can be recovered.
Ms Roome wrote on Facebook: “Today we had our TikTok hearing.
“We now have to wait for the judge to decide whether the case is dismissed or whether we are allowed to proceed to the discovery stage.
“Sitting through the hearing was incredibly hard. The language was cold, technical and legal. For the court, this is about motions and procedures. For us, it is about our children. Our dead children.”
She went on: “Listening to lawyers argue abstract points while the reality of our loss sat silently behind every word was deeply painful. This is our lived experience, our grief, and our determination to find the truth and protect other children.
“Whatever the outcome, we showed up. We spoke for our children….
[ad_2]
