Online Safety

A mother, Ellen Roome, has successfully fought to have the inquest into her 14-year-old son Jules Sweeney's death quashed, allowing a new investigation. Jules died in April 2022, and his mother believes his death may have been linked to an online challenge or social media activity. The original inquest lasted 23 minutes and did not examine his social media data. New evidence, including analysis of his online activity commissioned by his mother, led the High Court to order a fresh inquest. A new law, introduced in Jules's name, now requires social media platforms to secure potential evidence within five days of a child's death. Separately, Ofcom is investigating TikTok over concerns about the effectiveness of its age checks, though TikTok says it is confident it meets legal obligations under the Online Safety Act.

Key Claims by Channel

Claim
Reported by all 2 channels
The High Court quashed the inquest into Jules Sweeney's death, allowing a new inquest.	Reported by BBC One	Reported by ITV
Jules Sweeney's mother believes he died from an online challenge that went wrong.	Reported by BBC One	Reported by ITV
The original inquest lasted 23 minutes and did not include any of Jules's social media data.	Reported by BBC One	Reported by ITV
Only on one channel
A new law named after Jules Sweeney requires social media platforms to preserve potential evidence within five days of a child's death.	Reported by BBC One	Not reported by ITV
Ofcom is investigating TikTok over serious doubts about the effectiveness of its age checks.	Not reported by BBC One	Reported by ITV
TikTok stated it strictly prohibits dangerous content and is confident its platform meets legal obligations under the Online Safety Act.	Not reported by BBC One	Reported by ITV
Three other fathers mourning children who died in social media-related circumstances were present at court, expressing frustration with police investigations.	Reported by BBC One	Not reported by ITV

This is a cross-channel consensus summary, not an objective account. Consensus can be uniformly wrong, or omit what only one channel covered.