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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:

Meta Adds Thousands of AI Users to Facebook and Instagram

Recommended Interviews:

This episode is sponsored by Bark Technologies. 

I brought in Dr. Alison Yeung to recap 2024 and set intentions for 2025 around kid's online safety.

Sean Killingsworth brings the youth perspective on what it's like to be a teenager with access to smartphones and social media.

After struggling as a young teen with his use of smartphones and social media, Sean decided to switch things up. He started using a flip phone. After the initial weaning of period, Sean felt incredible. He was more present and happier. But problems remained, as all of his peers were still unable to lift their eyes from their phones.

This led to the creation of The Reconnect Movement.

More about Sean:

Seán is the founder of the Reconnect Movement, which creates in person communities on college campuses for students to socialize without their phones. Students love it.

Reconnect currently has over 500 students signed up for student-led reconnect clubs at the University of Florida and University of Central Florida. Reconnect has hosted events at Harvard, Rollins College, Catholic University of America, Divergent U with plans to expand nationally in the next 2 years.

In addition to his advocacy work with The Anxious Generation, Design it for us, and the Becca Schill foundation, Seán also speaks at conferences, events, and colleges. Most recently, he gave a guest lecture at Georgetown University.

He is launching his podcast Be the Oasis in January 2025. His book by the same name will be published in spring 2026.

You can reach out to Sean at: [email protected]

Resources Mentioned in the Episode

I brought in Dany Elachi of the Australian-based Heads Up Alliance to learn about the recent U16 Age Gate Bill which passed in Australia. In addition to breaking down the new law, Dany shares his personal experience in (admittedly) giving his pre-teen daughter a phone too early and how correcting this mistake led to an advocacy movement across Australia.

Dany breaks down the legislative battle in getting this new law passed, how the age verification will work, which platforms this applies to and much more. 

Resources Mentioned in the Episode

Dany Elachi is a Sydney husband and father of five children, aged between 7 and 15.

He is also the founder of the Heads Up Alliance, a volunteer-run, grassroots movement of Australian parents committed to delaying smartphones and social media for their children.

Since its inception in 2020, the Heads Up Alliance has also been a powerful advocate for children's wellbeing. The movement has successfully advocated for policy changes that led to smartphones banned in nearly 1,000 Australian schools. More recently, the Heads Up Alliance played a pivotal role in lobbying for a world-leading national law raising the minimum age for social media to 16.

The Heads Up Alliance remains committed to ending the phone-based childhood and reclaiming the play-based one for all Australian children.

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:

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

This episode is sponsored by Bark Technologies. 

In this conversation, I brought in Sarah Gardner of Heat Initiative to discuss a landmark lawsuit against Apple regarding its negligence in protecting children from child sexual abuse material (CSAM). Together we break down the lawsuit and what these failures mean for families. Are Apple devices even safe for kids, in their current form? Many questions are asked and answered in this episode.

The lawsuit against Apple was filed on behalf of thousands of survivors of child sexual abuse for knowingly allowing the storage of images and videos documenting their abuse on iCloud and the company’s defectively designed products. The lawsuit alleges that Apple has known about this content for years, but has refused to act to detect or remove it, despite developing advanced technology to do so.

The images and videos of the plaintiffs’ childhood sexual abuse, which have been stored thousands of times, would have been identified and removed had Apple implemented its 2021 “CSAM Detection” technology. However, Apple terminated the program after its announcement. Other leading technology providers have been proactively detecting and reporting illegal child sex abuse images and videos for more than a decade. Apple’s belated efforts, and subsequent cancellation, leave it among the very few major platforms that do not engage in proactive detection and removal.

Resources:

About Sarah Gardner

Sarah Gardner is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Heat Initiative. Prior to launching Heat’s campaign to hold Apple accountable, Sarah spent 10 years at Thorn, an organization that builds technology to combat online child sexual abuse, where she was integral to its growth from a small, start-up effort to a multi-million dollar nonprofit. As Vice President of External Affairs, she helped develop a plan to eliminate child sexual abuse material from the internet which spurred a $63M investment in the organization through the TED Audacious Prize. Sarah also worked at Free the Slaves, an organization empowering local organizations to end modern forms of slavery.

This episode is sponsored by Bark Technologies. 

This is the conversation to get parents up to speed on fentanyl. No one is safe from this threat and this information can be life-saving to your family.

I brought in Special Agent Frank Tarentino to discuss the opioid crisis, focusing on the rise of fentanyl and its devastating impact on families. He emphasizes the importance of education for parents and the role of social media in drug distribution. 

Resources Mentioned in the Episode

About Frank A. Tarentino III

Mr. Frank A. Tarentino III is the Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New York Division covering the State of New York. Mr. Tarentino is a twenty-six year veteran of the DEA having served diverse assignments to include foreign operations, multi-agency international investigations and local impact initiatives in domestic offices. 

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:

Call Speaker Mike Johnson and ask him to pass the Kids Online Safety Act! (202) 225-2777

⁠Sign this petition to get Character.AI shut down.⁠

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

This episode is sponsored by Bark Technologies. 

Learn about the Bark Phone.

Learn about the Bark App for iPhones and Androids. 

*Use code SCROLLING2DEATH FOR 10% OFF

Learn about the Bark Watch.

In this conversation, Dr. Mathilde Cerioli discusses the implications of AI technology on children's development, emphasizing the need for careful consideration of how AI interacts with young minds. The discussion covers the addictive nature of AI, the importance of face-to-face interactions, and the necessity for collaboration between AI developers and child development experts. 

As always, we focus on tangible takeaways for parents which children of all ages; how you can talk to your child about A.I. today and how to protect them from the threats.

Resources Mentioned in the Episode

About Mathilde Cerioli, Ph.D.

Dr. Mathilde Cerioli holds a Master Degree in Master's Degree in Psychology and a Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience. Her work focuses on the intersection of child development and AI technologies, advocating for the development of responsible AI for children. She has lead the research report The Future of Child Development in the AI Era, where she brings a nuanced understanding of how AI impacts young people aged 0 to 25 years. Through her role as Chief Scientist at everyone.AI, a nonprofit dedicated to the ethical development of AI for children, she collaborates with stakeholders from regulators and tech companies to educators and parents, building a consensus on safeguarding children’s well-being in digital environments. Her approach is rooted in defining responsible AI practices that align with developmental science while enabling innovation that serves the needs of the next generation.

This episode is sponsored by Bark Technologies.