Mom Fights Tech Giants for Jools' Data

0:00On April 4th, Ellen Room lost her 14-year-old son Jules in April 2022, and she's convinced social media played a deadly role. After a fun day at the races and hanging with his best friend, she found him unresponsive in his room just over an hour later. The inquest lasted 23 minutes and found no signs of suicide, but Room believes harmful content he saw online in that final hour pushed him over the edge. She spent four years battling tech giants in UK and US courts, demanding they own up to the wrists their absposed the kids. In January, she got an MBE for her relentless campaign. Now, a fresh US ruling holds Google and Metta accountable for addicting children, with a Los Angeles jury slapping them with $6 million in. Damages that's giving bereaved parents like her. Real hope. On that sunny day, Jules was laughing on the family cameras, saying goodbye to his friend at 8.46 pm, full of life after football, and chilling by the fire pit.

1:01No one suspected a thing, not his buddy who'd been with him all day. But platforms blocked Room from his data, claiming she had no rights as his mom. She fought back and helped past Jules' law in the UK, forcing social media firms to save kids' data after death, instead of wiping it in 30 days. Her own case predates it, so she's pushing the high court to reopen the inquest for access. Meanwhile, she's suing TikTok in the States to uncover what he viewed last. Rooms calling on the UK government to catch up fast, maybe even raise the access age to 16, like some amendments suggest. These companies got to fix their faulty products before more kids pay the price, just like with Yanca Danger's toy off shelves.