‘No child should be on these platforms’: Ellen Roome and Lauren Cowell call for tech firms to delete harmful addictive features
Ellen Roome and Lauren Cowell told LBC they are concerned ministers are dragging their feet over new safeguards for children.
The Government must force big tech companies to remove harmful addictive features posing huge risks to millions of children on social media, online safety campaigners have told LBC.
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Speaking to Nick Ferrari at Breakfast, Ellen Roome and Lauren Cowell called on legislators to press ahead without delay as “millions and millions” of children remain exposed to harmful content online.
They said “dangerous” and addictive features remain in place, which at the extreme end can “lead to the loss of a child”.
It comes after the Government committed last week to either implementing a ban on under-16s accessing social media or imposing restrictions on children's use of those platforms after a showdown between the two chambers of Parliament.
Ms Roome told Nick: “We need them to actually look at what they are going to do and remove some of the harmful features and really tighten up on these platforms. We've still got children being affected and we've still got children dying.”
The grieving mother is among the 27 bereaved families in the UK who say social media is to blame for their childrens' deaths.
Read more: No more meetings and photo ops, Keir Starmer must act now on online safety, writes Ellen Roome
Ms Roome's world was turned upside down when she found her 14-year-old boy lifeless in his bedroom in their Cheltenham home on April 13, 2022.
The online safety campaigner suspects that her son Jools Sweeney died while doing an online challenge.
Ms Cowell said: “Why are we waiting any longer? We have all of the evidence. We've got bereaved from over 27 bereaved families in this country alone who have suffered the ultimate consequences and devastation of what can happen.
“With all the health professionals on the frontline, medical professionals who are doing research every day on this topic, why are we waiting? We don't have time to wait any longer. I do feel there's quite a lot of waffling and we really need answers. I think as a parent, I want answers."
"I don't feel that any child under the age minimum of 16 should be on these platforms," she added.
Peers ended their stand-off with MPs over plans to curb social media for under-16s after the Government agreed to introduce restrictions last week.
The two chambers of the Houses of Parliament had been locked in a fight over the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill regarding the content to which under-16s are exposed online.
Peers stood down on Tuesday after ministers announced they would impose social media restrictions for young people regardless of the outcome of a consultation which is currently under way.
The campaigners say now is the time for the Government to press ahead as the back-and-forth has ended, describing it as the “Big Tobacco” moment.
“If it was a toy that was killing children, it would be recalled and the manufacturer would be made to fix it,” said Ms Room.
"it needs to be on the technology companies to say, this is your responsibility, you fix it," she added.
The grieving mother is currently taking legal action against TikTok alongside five British parents suing the platform in Delaware.
The lawsuit, filed by the Social Media Victims Law Centre against TikTok and its parent company ByteDance, alleges that Jools, Isaac Kenevan, 13, Archie Battersbee, 12, Noah Gibson, 11, and Maia Walsh, 13, died while attempting an online challenge.
Ms Roome said: “All the documents that have come out of it… have proved that there is so much harm on these platforms.
“The internal documents released talking about groomers, they know on their platforms that they are being addicted by design."