Mother of boy who may have died in TikTok challenge urges No 10 to ban social media

The mother of a teenager who believes he died in a TikTok challenge gone wrong has said that Downing Street has been too slow to move towards a social media ban for under-16s, and accused the government of “kicking it down the road”. Ellen Roome, the mother of Jools Sweeney, 14, is among the families who will meet Keir Starmer on Tuesday as a consultation into the social media ban closes this week. “Come on, get a grip, let’s actually stand up, do something, make a decision,” she said on Today on BBC Radio 4. “I don’t care if they take it away for adults and children until it’s safe, just take it away, fix it, and then we can give it back.” Roome said she hoped a ban would give technology companies the impetus to make the platforms safer. “They spend millions and billions of pounds on making their system. They could spend some money on actually fixing their system and say this is now a safe product, and give it back. But until it’s safe, I absolutely wholeheartedly say take it away.” Anna Turley, the Labour party chair, said the government would “seize this moment” but said it was right there had been time taken on the consultation. “We need to make sure that legislation and protection keeps pace with technology as it changes and protects our children going forward,” she added. …