Mother joins bereaved parents at minister meeting

An online safety campaigner, who has been fighting for the right of parents to access their child's social media data in the event of their death, has met with a government minister.

Ellen Roome, 49, from Gloucestershire, has been campaigning since her 14-year-old son died at home in Cheltenham in 2022 in what she believes was a social media challenge that went wrong.

On Monday, Roome joined parents who have lost children in circumstances relating to online safety at a meeting with the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), Liz Kendall.

"We were saying as a group of bereaved parents that we felt that Ofcom [the media regulator] wasn't doing enough," said Roome.

Since her son's death, Roome has been campaigning for the right to obtain his social media data, as she believes it could contain evidence as to how he came to die.

Social Media companies have been resistant to handing over such data and have cited concerns over privacy or have said they will only do so if ordered to by a court.

Gloucestershire Constabulary recently confirmed that the data originally downloaded during the investigation had not been deleted.

Roome is now also part of a group of parents that are suing the social media platform TikTok in the US state of Delaware.

Roome raised the question of online data preservation with Kendall and said the minister supported the idea: "She seemed very on board and thought that data preservation was absolutely an essential.

"Children live so much on the online world now that actually its important that we look to preserve that data as well and she was quite shocked that I'm almost four years down the line and don't know why my child is dead," she added.

"As a group we were raising collective points and she was saying that we need to come together as a joined up force, not just DSIT but the policing minister as well, so its actually looking at it from a joined aspect to see what can be done to stop these things happening."

Roome said that the minister "acknowledged that there were gaps" in the current legislation and that it "needs to be reviewed" so that Ofcom can enforce it effectively.

Other issues raised by the group included suicide forums and the sale of poisons online.

The visit came as the government announced it was considering further restrictions targeting children's use of mobile phones as a follow-up to the Online Safety Act.

Banning children from accessing social media, improved age checks and restricting features classified as addictive are all measures being considered.

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology also said that stricter guidance will be sent to schools and that Ofsted inspectors will begin checking the enforcement of mobile phone policies when judging behaviour during inspections and the government will provide support for schools struggling to implement the guidelines.

"We have been clear that mobile phones have no place in our schools but now we're going further through tougher guidance and stronger enforcement," said Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson.

"Our Attendance and Behaviour Hubs will support schools that are struggling to effectively implement phone bans so all our children can learn in phone-free environments," she added.

The government are also looking at what measures have worked in other countries and are planning a series of events to start a 'national conversation' to hear the parent's views on how technology is impacting their children.

"Technology has huge potential to create jobs, transform public services, and improve lives. But we will only seize on that potential if people know they and their children are safe online," said Kendall.

"We are determined to ensure technology enriches children's lives, not harms them - and to give every child the childhood they deserve," she added.

The government has also announced plans AI 'nudification' tools following a backlash after Elon Musk's Grok AI tool was used to create sexualised images of real people, including children.

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