Scrolling 2 Death – Details, episodes & analysis

When former-Facebook employee David Erb realized that Facebook's "People You May Know" feature was connecting millions of pedophiles with tens of millions of children, he told senior Facebook executives right away. The response gave David the shock of his life.

Not only did Meta refuse to help these children, they announced end-to-end encryption so that the messages were hidden. This strategic update removed liability from Meta and has since encouraged even more exploitation of children.

In today's episode of Scrolling 2 Death, David Erb shares his story. Please listen with caution. What you hear will upset you.

About David Erb

David Erb has had a nearly 40 year career working for some of the biggest tech companies in the world, including Microsoft, Google, YouTube and Facebook. David co-created Google Cloud, and led a team of 200 engineers at YouTube. He has been a champion of developing new ways to combat CSAM and has seen big tech at both its best and its worst. He resigned from his lead engineering role in Meta's London office in protest over their refusal to act on his team's recommendations to curb CSAM and grooming on the platform.

The Big Tech Gut Check is a super quick, weekly update on all things social media and Big Tech.

Social Media & Big Tech highlights for this week:

• Telegram CEO Arrested for Enabling Child Sexual Abuse (among other charges)
• TikTok Must Face Lawsuit Over 10-year-old Girl's Death (court ruling)
• New Study Shows TikTok Psychologically Manipulates Users in Favor of China (study)
• TikTok Child Privacy Class Action Lawsuit (more here)
• Snapchat Launches Their App on iPads (more here)
• Families Can Sue Yolo For Breaking Anti-Bullying Pledge (more info)
• The Dangerous World of Anonymous Apps (with Kristin Bride)
• Anonymous Apps: Exposed (with Kristin Bride)
• RESEARCH: The Case for Causality (social media & mental health) by Jonathan Haidt and Zach Rausch
• RESEARCH: How Screens Affect Infants & Toddlers by Children & Screens

Check back on Fridays for everything that parents need to know about the platforms our children are spending hours on every day.

In this conversation, I interview author, mom and entrepreneur Jenna Lee Dillon to discuss children's screen time; the benefits, the dangers and the importance of a proactive approach to screens.

Jenna Lee authored an incredible book called Look Up! A Wild & Screen Freed Roadmap to Enjoying Travel with Kids. This book dives into Jenna Lee's experiences and lessons embarking on 65 flights at 51 roadtrips with her daughter, all screen free!

So much to learn in this super relatable conversation between two moms who are trying to give our children an empowered and balanced childhood.

About Jenna Lee

Jenna Lee Dillon is a solo mama, 4x entrepreneur, Spartan racer, speaker, and author of Look Up! A Wild & Screen Freed Roadmap to Enjoying Travel with Kids. She founded the Screen Freed Revolution to help parents cultivate an indomitable mindset, experience profound joy, and navigate technology boundaries with purpose and peace. Jenna Lee lives with her daughter and their bossy Aussie dog.

Connect with Jenna Lee on her website and Instagram.

This episode is sponsored by Bark Technologies.

• Learn about the Bark App for iPhones and Androids: *Use code SCROLLING2DEATH FOR 10% OFF
• Check out the Bark Phone

Some would say that the addictive pull of our phones and the attention economy is the biggest issue society faces today.

Certainly, our children are feeling the effects, with rising rates of depression and suicide. 

Sara Robin is an award-winning filmmaker who has dove into exploring the impact that the attention economy is having on our lives. 

There is so much to learn from Sara, as she has studied and interviewed countless parents, teens, teachers, doctors and other experts in this space. 

Sara is now in development on a new documentary called Your Attention Please, which explores solutions to the problems caused by exploitative tech. 

In this conversation between Scrolling 2 Death host Nicki Reisberg and Sara Robin, we dive deep into issues facing parents today, including: 

• The harms that can arise from problematic social media use
• The presence of tech and smartphones in schools
• Tips for parents in raising their children with tech
• And much, much more

You can find out more about the Your Attention Please documentary at: yourattentionplz.com

The Big Tech Gut Check is a super quick, weekly update on all things Big Tech.

Check back every Friday for everything that parents need to know about the platforms our children are spending hours on every day.

This week’s Big Tech Gut Check highlights:

• Meta paying $$Billions$$ in dividends in the wake of child exploitation revealed on their platform.
• Meta's announcement to add labels to AI-generated content.
• Troubles in the world of Snapchat, and their last-ditch efforts to be relevant.
• Research updates on misinformation, misogynistic content (featuring Andrew Tate).
• Revealing the Top 3 most popular social media platforms for U.S. adults. 

The Big Tech Gut Check is a super quick, weekly update on all things Big Tech. 

Check back here every Friday for everything that parents need to know about the platforms our children are spending hours on every day.

This week’s Big Tech Gut Check focuses on: 

• An update on the lawsuit Neville et al vs. Snap, Inc.
• Highlights from the Big Tech Senate Hearing in DC
• Big Tech’s latest publicity stunts
• NYC Major Eric Adams concerning update on social media
• A new report from Eko revealing harmful content on Instagram and TikTok

In this conversation, family physician Dr. Alison Young (IG: @thesmartphoneeffect) and Nicki Reisberg discuss the impact of screens and social media on mental health. They explore the age at which children are getting smartphones and accessing social media, and the effect that these decisions are having on mental health outcomes, brain development and dopamine levels. 

Topics include: 

• Youth screen time and social media use

• A breakdown of how dopamine works related to screen time

• What phone options are available to parents these days

• The benefits of phone bans in academic settings 

• The importance of primary prevention around screen activities

This episode is your introduction to dangerous online challenges.

Parent survivor Joann Bogard shares the story of her son, Mason.

Mason Bogard was an adventurous and outdoorsy 15-year-old. 

He loved fishing, hiking, camping and woodworking. 

He had great friends, went to a good school.

Mason's parents talked to him regularly about online safety and used every parental feature available. They did everything right.

And Mason still fell victim to a social media harm.

Mason passed away in May 2019 after trying the viral choking challenge he viewed on YouTube.

The conversation highlights the lack of regulation and responsibility of social media platforms in preventing harmful content from reaching children.

Joann discusses her advocacy efforts, including a lawsuit against YouTube and TikTok, and support of the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA).

The conversation includes candid tips for parents regarding phones and social media.

You can connect with Joann through: https://www.facebook.com/masonsmessage

To learn more about KOSA, click this link.

Here's an easy link to contact your state Senators, to ask them to support KOSA.

Dr. Carl D. Marci is a physician, neuroscientist, author and entrepreneur with an incredible book for parents called 'Rewired: Protecting Your Brain in the Digital Age.' 

In this interview, Dr. Marci answers pressing questions from parents: 

• How are screens affecting our childrens' brains? 
• Should we be giving our children a learning tablet? 
• When should our children be given a smartphone? 
• Why are adolescents more depressed than ever before? 

The big takeaway from this conversation is how parents can best connect with their children and support their brain development. 

Here's a link to Dr. Marci's book 'Rewired: Protecting Your Brain in the Digital Age': https://rewiredthebook.com

This episode is all about social media and our kids. In this conversation, I welcome Imran Ahmed of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, who gets in depth about the risks that social media poses to our children, and gives a roadmap to solve this harmful hamster wheel.

We cover a number of topics relevant to parenting in the digital world, including: 

• Social media's addictive nature
• Harmful content on social media (and how to minimize it)
• How to navigate "fake news"
• The effect of AI on society 

Imran and his team have put together a Parent's Guide for social media use, available here.

Imran Ahmed leads the Center for Countering Digital Hate in stopping the spread of hate and lies online through research, public campaigns and policy advocacy. Learn more about their work at counterhate.com.
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