Give parents/guardians a right to access social media accounts of their children
126,033 people signed this petition to the UK Parliament after it opened on 10 May 2024; it closed on 29 May 2024. The Government responded on 20 August 2024. MPs debated it in Westminster Hall on 13 January 2025.
The petition
The petition's creator is not named in the Petitions site's published record. Quoted in full from the UK Parliament petitions site.
Give parents/guardians a right to access social media accounts of their children
I want parents/guardians to have the right to be given access to their children's social media accounts, by social media providers, both when the child is alive and if they are deceased.
My son Jools was 14 when he took his life in 2022. At the time the new Coroner's powers to request social media access were not in force. However, I also think this is too late.
Since my son's death, I have not been able to access information to see what my son was looking at that could have contributed to him taking his own life.
Parents should have the right to full access to their child's social media accounts either whilst they are still alive (to protect them) or if they die as in my case.
The Government's response
The Government published its response on 20 August 2024. Its summary:
The Government is committed to tackling the harm children face online and we will look at how we can support families to see information about a child’s internet use following a bereavement.
The opening 396 words of the 800-word response:
I would like to thank all those who signed the petition on this incredibly important issue. Every death is a tragedy but extremely so when it involves a young person, and I am grateful to the brave parents who continue to fight for greater protections for children online.
Children face significant harm online and the Government is committed to finding ways in which we can strengthen protections for children and support those families who have had to endure unimaginable losses. We understand that families want answers and to be able to access information about a child’s internet use following a bereavement, and it is crucial that companies respond to parents’ requests for information in a humane and transparent way.
The Online Safety Act 2023 contains several provisions which will address some of the challenges faced by parents and coroners when trying to access information from online services about a child’s activities prior to their death.
Firstly, the Act introduces measures to strengthen coroners’ ability to obtain information from online services, providing a route for the parents or guardians to see data in relation to a deceased child. These measures give Ofcom the power to require information from regulated services about a deceased child’s online activity following a request from a coroner. This includes content the child had viewed or with which they had engaged, the role algorithms and other functionalities played and any content that the child generated, uploaded or shared on the service. Where a company refuses to provide information requested by Ofcom, companies may be subject to enforcement action.
Secondly, the Act will ensure services categorised as Category 1 (major user-to-user services, such as the largest social media companies), Category 2A (major search services) or Category 2B (other categorised user-to-user services) are transparent about their policies regarding data disclosure concerning a deceased child. These services will have to set out policies on disclosing information to parents regarding the online activities of a deceased child in a clear, accessible and sufficiently detailed format in their terms of service. They must provide a written response to data requests in a timely manner and must provide a dedicated helpline, or similar means, for parents to communicate with the company to streamline the data request process. They will also be required to offer options for parents to complain when they consider a platform has not met its obligations.
Read the full response on the petitions site.
Where the signatures came from
Signatures came from 650 constituencies on the boundaries used until the 2024 general election. The largest number, 6,315, came from Cheltenham.
124,594 of the signatures were from the UK and 1,439 from elsewhere, by the location signers gave.
| Constituency | Signatures |
|---|---|
| Cheltenham | 6,315 |
| Tewkesbury | 4,062 |
| Gloucester | 1,711 |
| Stroud | 1,142 |
| The Cotswolds | 1,065 |
| Forest of Dean | 605 |
| West Worcestershire | 566 |
| Esher and Walton | 515 |
| Sevenoaks | 486 |
| Tunbridge Wells | 473 |
| Region | Signatures |
|---|---|
| South West | 24,867 |
| South East | 22,407 |
| East of England | 13,147 |
| London | 12,756 |
| North West | 11,535 |
| West Midlands | 9,733 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 7,093 |
| East Midlands | 7,041 |
| Scotland | 6,256 |
| Wales | 3,997 |
| North East | 3,428 |
| Northern Ireland | 1,495 |
Debate in Parliament
MPs debated the petition in Westminster Hall on 13 January 2025. Read the debate in Hansard. House of Commons Library debate pack.
Source and receipt
- https://petition.parliament.uk/archived/petitions/661407.jsonUK Parliament Petitions API · read 2026-10-15 · SHA-256
ceeac9e13a57edc9… - The petition on petition.parliament.uk
The petition's words are its creator's and the response is the Government's; this site quotes both and gives no view on either. Signature counts can still change while a petition is open. To report an error, send a correction request.