A Gloucestershire mum's petition to change the law on social media is being debated in parliament this January 2025.
Bereaved mother and businesswoman, Ellen Roome, launched a petition in May 2024 to change the law and give parents access to their children's social media accounts, following the untimely death of her 14-year-old son Jools Sweeney.
Jools' family were left without answers when he took his own life and believe his social media accounts may be able to shed light on what led to his death — but they can't get access to them without a court order.
In an effort to change this, Ellen launched the Jools' Law petition in May 2024 with the aim of removing this costly barrier and allowing parents to access their children's social media accounts directly without the need for a court order, whether those children are alive or dead.
Parents have no legal right to see their children's social media accounts without a court order, so currently there's no way for Jools' family to know if he was being bullied, threatened or was looking at harmful content online before he died. Ellen says it is a 'moral injustice' that parents are being denied crucial information that could provide answers about their children's deaths.
Ellen said: 'There were no signs of deeper struggles offline. Jools was loved deeply and loved us in return. I fear this could have been an online challenge gone wrong.
'When I launched the petition for what I call ‘Jools Law,’ I asked for parents to have the right to access their child’s social media accounts either while alive, to protect them, or after death, as in my case.
'I understand the need for safeguards to protect living children from abusive parents, but when a child has died, who are we protecting? Social media companies? Predators on these platforms? Surely, parents deserve the right to search for answers.'
While the proposed Digital Information and Smart Data Bill, announced in the King's Speech in 2024, would allow coroners access to deceased childrens' social media accounts, Jools' family would have to spend an estimated £86,000 in legal costs to apply to the High Court for a second inquest into his death for this to happen in their case — and still wouldn't be able to access the social media accounts directly to try and find answers themselves.
Ellen continued: 'This won’t help families like mine. Neither the police nor the coroner requested Jools’ online data at the time, and I was in no state to demand it. The same failure could happen again under the new law.
'His friends, teachers and everyone in his life have been left reeling, struggling to understand why he is no longer here. We all deserve answers, or at least the chance to look for them.'
Her petition amassed over 126,000 signatures and garnered national support from parents, businesses and celebrities including former boxer and mental health campaigner Frank Bruno — and will now be debated in parliament on Monday 13 January 2025 at 4.30pm.
Supporters of the Jools' Law campaign can watch the debate live on the government's YouTube channel via youtube.com/@ukparliament.
If you or someone you know is struggling with their mental health, please contact Samaritans for help and advice on 116 123 or jo@samaritans.org.
