A mum desperately searching for answers after her son’s death has hit out at social media firms refusing her access to his accounts, saying they ‘don’t give a damn’. Ellen Roome, 48, believes her 14-year-old son Jools Sweeney’s death in April 2022 could have been an online challenge gone wrong.
Image Credit: Metro [Undated family handout photo of 14-year-old son Jools Sweeney, who was discovered unconscious in his bedroom at home in April 2022. His mother, 48-year-old, businesswoman Ellen Roome from Cheltenham, is seeking answers about why her son died, believing it could have been an online challenge gone wrong. Issue date: Saturday January 11, 2025. PA Photo. Ms Roome said technology companies have refused to give her access to the accounts, which "could shed light" on his death, saying she requires a court order to do so. She has been campaigning for "Jools' Law" to give parents the right to access their children's online activity after they die, and the issue is set to be debated in Parliament on Monday. See PA story POLITICS JoolsLaw. Photo credit should read: Ellen Roome/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.]
She said Jools’s profiles ‘could shed light’ on how he died but the tech giants have refused to let her into them, insisting she needs a court order to do so. Ms Roome has been campaigning for ‘Jools’ Law’ to give parents the right to access their children’s online activity after they die, and the issue is set to be debated in Parliament on Monday.
Image Credit: Metro [Undated family handout photo of Ellen Roome with her 14-year-old son Jools Sweeney, who was discovered unconscious in his bedroom at home in April 2022. The 48-year-old, businesswoman from Cheltenham, is seeking answers about why her son died, believing it could have been an online challenge gone wrong. Issue date: Saturday January 11, 2025. PA Photo. Ms Roome said technology companies have refused to give her access to the accounts, which "could shed light" on his death, saying she requires a court order to do so. She has been campaigning for "Jools' Law" to give parents the right to access their children's online activity after they die, and the issue is set to be debated in Parliament on Monday. See PA story POLITICS JoolsLaw. Photo credit should read: Ellen Roome/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.]
The businesswoman, from Cheltenham, said she is particularly interested in Jools’s Instagram and TikTok accounts because he did ‘a lot of’ challenges which are frequently shared on the platforms. Asked how companies have acted after her requests for data, she said: ‘Awful. They haven’t cared at all.’.
Image Credit: Metro [Undated family handout photo of Ellen Roome with her 14-year-old son Jools Sweeney, who was discovered unconscious in his bedroom at home in April 2022. The 48-year-old, businesswoman from Cheltenham, is seeking answers about why her son died, believing it could have been an online challenge gone wrong. Issue date: Saturday January 11, 2025. PA Photo. Ms Roome said technology companies have refused to give her access to the accounts, which "could shed light" on his death, saying she requires a court order to do so. She has been campaigning for "Jools' Law" to give parents the right to access their children's online activity after they die, and the issue is set to be debated in Parliament on Monday. See PA story POLITICS JoolsLaw. Photo credit should read: Ellen Roome/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.]
She went on: ‘They’re not remotely interested. ‘They don’t give a damn, and they just, quite frankly, don’t care… they all say it’s down to privacy that they can’t release data, well, that’s ridiculous, because they can redact people’s data.
‘I don’t need to see who said what, I want to know whether it was some kind of blackmail? Was it sextortion? Was it an online challenge?. ‘But my child had no mental health issues offline, he wasn’t being bullied.’. Jools was discovered unconscious in his bedroom.
