What This Story Is About
- A mother, Shannon Heacock, describes losing her son Elijah after online exploitation and is speaking out against big tech companies.
Why It Matters
- Heacock says internal company documents and personal experience show children are being deliberately targeted online, despite parental oversight.
What Happens Next
- Heacock says she will keep fighting for stricter federal regulations on social media companies to protect other children.
For Context
- Heacock traveled to California to watch part of a trial before Meta agreed to a settlement, and she has connected with other affected families across the country.
BOWLING GREEN, Ky. (WBKO) – Shannon Heacock says it took 20 minutes, 150 messages, AI deepfakes and $50 for her to lose her son Elijah.
“Elijah was amazing. He loved big. He loved his community. He loved his school. He loved his twin. He was always doing something,” Heacock said.
Families connect across the country
Heacock says she has connected with other families across the country, from Washington, D.C., to New Mexico, each with different stories but what she describes as the same target: big tech.
“For our family, it means that maybe we are protecting another child. That is what we’re looking at. It is the protection of our children,” Heacock said.
Trial and settlement
Heacock traveled to California to watch part of the trial in person before Meta agreed to a settlement.
“Mark Zuckerberg looked the public in the eye and said their platforms were safe. Will Mark look me in the eye because you’re a liar,” Heacock said.
She is part of a larger push for federal regulations. Heacock says she read internal company documents while in Washington, D.C., that showed employees joking about how the companies would look if the details became public.
Parental oversight
Heacock says it does not matter how closely parents watch their children, because she believes children are being deliberately targeted.
“People think that we just let our kids free will internet. But I was that mother that checked the phone. But that didn’t stop it from reaching our children,” Heacock said.
Heacock says those documents are proof enough for her that children were targeted.
“I promised him that day before he passed that I would make sure that no children would ever face what he has faced. And sadly, I’ve not kept my end of the deal because there has been other children, but I’m gonna keep fighting,” Heacock said.
Heacock says her goal is not to take away social media or a child’s right to privacy, but to push for stricter laws on what big tech companies already have in place.
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