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UK to Add ‘Jools’ Law to Crime and Policing Bill, Requiring Fast Preservation of Children’s Social Media Data

The change, driven by Ellen Roome’s campaign after her son Jools’s 2022 death, targets faster access to evidence for coroners.

Overview

  • Ministers announced an amendment obliging platforms to preserve a deceased child’s account data and supply it to a coroner within five days.
  • Campaigner Ellen Roome said Technology Secretary Liz Kendall phoned her at 4:15 a.m. to share the decision, calling the outcome bittersweet because it will not apply retroactively to her case.
  • Prime Minister Keir Starmer will launch a three‑month consultation on further measures, including potential under‑16 restrictions, overnight curfews and safeguards for AI chatbots.
  • Roome and other families continue litigation against TikTok over deaths linked to the so‑called blackout challenge; TikTok says it blocks such content, removes most violations proactively and must delete personal data under law.
  • Prince Harry and Meghan publicly praised Roome’s efforts, saying the change will help bereaved families obtain answers about children’s online activity.