We Already Know What Would 'Better Protect Children'...

..and it's responsible parenting.

A mother suing TikTok over her teenage son's death said a decision to hold a landmark new inquest would help better protect children.

Oh? 

Jools Sweeney, a 14-year-old from Gloucestershire, died in April 2022 and his parents believe social media played a role in his death – pointing to an 'online challenge gone wrong'. There are fears he may have been a victim of attempted 'sextortion', too.

The first inquest wasn't so very wrong, but it clearly didn't exonerate the negligent parents enough: 

The fresh ruling overturned an inquiry held four years ago, which only lasted 23 minutes and heard no oral evidence. Jools's mother, Ellen Roome, challenged the narrative conclusion recorded in 2022, taking legal action against the senior coroner for Gloucestershire.

Her lawyers told a hearing on Thursday that a 'number of lines of inquiry' had not been pursued. And, in the High Court in London, Lord Justice Warby and Ms Justice Heather Williams on Thursday quashed the original conclusion and ordered the inquest be reopened.

And so we're off to the races, and the only people to benefit from this are the lawyers. Oh, and the government, which relishes any excuse to crack down on social media, of course. 

Ms Roome said: 'Every bereaved family deserves to know that every possible avenue, including a child's digital life, has been properly investigated. We hope this is a turning point, not only in finding the truth about Jools, but in making the online world safer for every child. 

'Our greatest hope is that one day no family has to walk this path. No parent should ever have to bury their child because dangerous content was allowed to reach them.'

Who allowed it to reach him, then, if not you? A 14 year old doesn't buy a phone without help from his parents, and most social media has age-restrictions and warning for use, which you as a parent should have known.  

Thursday's ruling came as Ofcom announced an investigation into the social media platform over potential failures in stopping children accessing harmful content. The watchdog has questioned whether the social media giant's age checks are fit for purpose.

Not if it's ignored by the very people now clamouring for Big Daddy Governmement to step in and parent their children for them, no. 

A TikTok spokesman said: 'We are confident that we meet our Online Safety Act obligations and will work with Ofcom to demonstrate this.'

I'm confident they will too, and I'm also conifent it won't make a blind bit of difference. 

It's An Ask Now, What Will Happen When They Decline?

India’s telecoms ministry has privately asked smartphone makers to preload all new devices with a state-owned cybersecurity app that cannot be deleted, a government order showed, a move likely to antagonise Apple and privacy advocates.

And the people in the market for a smartphone, surely? Or don't they count? 

In tackling a recent surge of cybercrime and hacking, India is joining authorities worldwide, most recently in Russia, to frame rules blocking the use of stolen phones for fraud or promoting state-backed government service apps.

How long before Britain joins them?  

Apple, which has previously locked horns with the telecoms regulator over development of a government anti-spam mobile app, is among the companies, such as Samsung, Vivo, Oppo and Xiaomi bound by the new order.  The 28 November order gives major smartphone companies 90 days to ensure that the government’s Sanchar Saathi app is pre-installed on new mobile phones, with a provision that users cannot disable it.

What about existing phones? Oh they have a plan for those too!  

For devices already in the supply chain, manufacturers should push the app to phones via software updates, the ministry said in its order, which was not made public and was sent privately to select companies.

Who ptromptly leaked it, shoeing just how likely they are to comply. 

A lawyer specialising in technology matters said India’s move was cause for concern, however.

“Apple has historically refused such requests from governments,” said Tarun Pathak, a research director at Counterpoint.

And they aren't about to start going along with this nonsense now...