LONDON, England – Denise Fergus, the mother of murdered two-year-old James Bulger, has succeeded in pressuring Google to remove disturbing images of her son from its platforms, including YouTube. Fergus took action after discovering that TikTok users were sharing AI-generated content depicting her son’s murder, causing immense distress to her and her family. The videos, which surfaced last year and were brought to attention by the Mirror, showed an avatar of James discussing his own death.
Fergus expressed her relief and gratitude at the implementation of new rules by Google specifically targeting AI-generated content featuring deceased minors. She also thanked the Daily Mirror for their support in raising awareness about this distressing behavior. This victory came after TikTok eventually removed the offending videos last August in response to Fergus’s demands.
Google has updated its harassment and cyberbullying policies in response to the disturbing content, vowing to immediately delete such insensitive images and issue final warnings to users. A second offense within three months will result in termination of the offender’s account. The company’s new guidelines reflect a firm stance against the creation and dissemination of AI-generated content featuring deceased minors or victims of well-documented violent events.
Denise Fergus commended Google for acknowledging the gravity of the issue and emphasized the importance of strict enforcement and continuous monitoring to ensure the effectiveness of the new rules. She also urged ongoing collaboration between tech companies, advocacy groups, and affected families to refine and improve these rules continually.
The heartbreaking case of James Bulger dates back to 1993 when he was abducted and murdered by two 10-year-old boys. The killers, Jon Venables and Robert Thompson, were convicted and served eight years before being released on license with new identities. Venables has since been recalled to jail twice for possessing indecent images of children. Last month, his bid for parole was rejected by the Parole Board.