Mum 'frustrated' as social media ban rejected

A bereaved mother campaigning for changes to social media following her son's death has been left "incredibly frustrated" by MPs rejecting a ban for under-16s.

Ellen Roome, from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, believes her 14-year-old son Jools Sweeney died in an online challenge gone wrong in 2022.

She was one of a group of 23 bereaved parents who had written to MPs calling for a new law - similar to a law implemented in Australia in December - banning children under 16 from sites such as Instagram and TikTok.

But the proposed change to the law was rejected by MPs on Monday, voting 307 to 173 against the plans with 107 MPs abstaining from the vote.

Speaking to BBC Radio Gloucestershire on Tuesday morning, Roome said: "How many children are going to be suffering or die as a result of social media before we actually change something?"

The Commons vote came as a result of an amendment to the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which is currently going through its final stages in Parliament.

Education minister Olivia Bailey urged MPs to dismiss the change and support more flexible restrictions, citing children's charities who she said had warned "a blanket ban could drive children towards less regulated corners of the internet or leave teenagers unprepared when they do come online".

A government consultation was launched at the start of March to gather views on a social media ban from young people and their parents and guardians.

"We don't need another consultation - we need to remove it from children," Roome said.

"I don't have any other children to save," Roome added.

"This isn't about saving my children, this is about making a difference for other children and I am so determined that we are not going to fail, that we are going to change the law and we're going to protect more children."

The government consultation will look at whether social media platforms should come with a minimum age requirement and whether platforms should switch off addictive features such as autoplay.

Alongside this, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology will also run pilot schemes testing some of the proposed interventions to provide "real-world evidence" of their effectiveness.

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