Scrolling 2 Death

This week, Nicki Petrossi and Sarah Gardner take listeners to Washington, D.C., following an emotional and powerful Social Media Victims Remembrance Day (SMVRD)—a day dedicated to honoring the children lost to social media harms and the families fighting to prevent more names from being added to the memorial each year.

The episode explores why families, advocates, and lawmakers gathered on Capitol Hill to demand action, and why so many parents believe the burden of protecting children online can no longer rest on families alone. Nicki and Sarah reflect on the growing national awareness of social media harms, the momentum created by the ongoing addiction trials, and the frustration of watching meaningful reform continue to stall.

They also break down two major developments in Washington: reports that tech CEOs may avoid a highly anticipated Senate hearing on social media harms, and the passage of the controversial Kids Internet and Digital Safety Act (KIDS Act), which critics say prioritizes Big Tech interests over child safety.

Later, parent survivor and Alexander Neville Foundation founder Amy Neville joins the show to share why she and Kristen Bride created SMVRD, what this year’s event meant to impacted families, and why keeping courthouse doors open and holding platforms accountable remains critical to protecting future generations.

Plus, Nicki and Sarah discuss the growing global movement to raise the age of social media access, why age-gating alone won’t solve the problem, and the one change experts believe would make the biggest difference: eliminating the addictive features that keep children hooked.

Because remembrance without action isn’t enough.

Here's a letter-writing tool to contact your Senators. Ask them to Vote "No" on the KIDS Act that passed in the House of Representatives. 

The Heat is On is an investigative mini-series by Scrolling 2 Death in partnership with Heat Initiative. Thank you to our expert editor, Jacob Meade.

What really happens when a 13-year-old joins Snapchat?

In this episode, we break down a disturbing new investigation from ParentsTogether Action and Heat Initiative that followed two avatar accounts posing as 7th graders on Snapchat for just one week — and what researchers found is deeply alarming.

The report claims Snapchat recommended hundreds of unsafe videos to the teen accounts, including drug content, sexual material, self-harm videos, violent content, and connections to strangers who appeared to be adults. Researchers say the accounts were shown unsafe content at an average rate of about one video per minute, often without searching for it.

We unpack the most shocking findings:
Adult strangers recommended as friends
Sexualized comments on videos featuring children
Drug sellers and explicit creators suggested to minors
Content promoting self-harm, violence, and disordered eating
Concerns around live location sharing for young teens

This episode explores what the report reveals about algorithmic recommendation systems, platform safety promises, and the growing concerns parents are raising about social media and children.

THE REPORT: One Week on Snapchat as a 7th Grader
PETITION: Stop Teen Exploitation & Abuse on Snapchat

Apple wants parents to celebrate its latest parental control updates. But child safety advocates aren't buying the hype.

In this episode, I brought in Titania Jordan of Bark Technologies and Chris McKenna of Protect Young Eyes to separate PR from reality. They discuss why Apple's changes arrived only after mounting lawsuits and legislative pressure, what the company still isn't doing to protect children, and why many of the announced features amount to little more than shifting responsibility back onto parents.

If Apple truly prioritizes child safety, why can children still receive explicit content, easily workaround parental controls and use a device designed primarily for adults?

Before you trust the headlines, listen to what the experts have to say.

Safer options for your child: 
Get the Bark Phone! 
Monitor your child's iPhone with the Bark App.
Get the Bark Watch!

Apple has built its brand on privacy, trust, and innovation. But when it comes to protecting children, has the company done enough?

In this episode of The Heat Is On, hosts Nicki Petrossi and Sarah Gardner examine Apple's long and controversial history with child safety. While Apple recently announced new parental controls and family safety features at WWDC 2026, critics say the company continues to ignore one of the most urgent child protection issues on its platform: the presence of known child sexual abuse material (CSAM) in iCloud.

Sarah shares her decade-long experience pushing Apple to address the problem, including behind-the-scenes conversations with the company, Apple's abandoned 2021 CSAM detection initiative, and the ongoing debate between privacy and child protection. The discussion also explores Apple's role in hosting AI nudify apps, concerns about App Store safety, and the direct-action campaigns that have brought survivors, advocates, and national media attention to Apple's doorstep.

Sign the petition asking Apple to detect, report and remove child sexual abuse material.

The hosts break down Apple's latest child safety announcements, what they could mean for families, and why advocates say parents should wait for independent testing before assuming the new protections will work as promised.

If one of the world's most powerful technology companies can't find a way to protect both privacy and children, what does that mean for the rest of the tech industry?

In this episode:
Apple's history of refusing to detect known CSAM in iCloud
Why child safety advocates supported Apple's abandoned 2021 detection plan
The scale of online child sexual abuse material and its impact on survivors
Apple's App Store, AI nudify apps, and deepfake child exploitation concerns
The direct-action campaigns pressuring Apple to change
A breakdown of Apple's newly announced parental controls and safety features
What parents should know before trusting Big Tech's safety promises

The Heat is On is a Scrolling 2 Death production in partnership with Heat Initiative.

Editing provided by Jacob Meade.

When schools hand children Chromebooks, iPads, Google accounts, and Microsoft Teams access, what’s really happening behind the screen?

In this eye-opening conversation, Titania Jordan joins Nicki Petrossi to reveal alarming new data from Bark Technologies’s monitoring of school-issued technology used by millions of students across the U.S.

The findings are staggering:
12% of children encountered cyberbullying 
3.74% encountered instances of depression
7.46% encountered discussion or content related to suicidal ideation, imminent suicide or self-harm
39.83% of students encountered violent content
22% were exposed to drug-related content
10.77% encountered sexual content
11.64% encountered medically-concerning content
2.69% encountered hate speech
0.23% encountered body image content
1.79% encountered anxiety-related content

They discuss how students are using Google Docs like disappearing-message apps, why schools are struggling to keep up, and what parents can do right now to better protect their children.

This episode is a wake-up call for parents, educators, school administrators, and policymakers about the unintended consequences of putting addictive, poorly protected technology into children’s hands.

Get Bark for Schools (for free!)
Get the Bark Phone
Parents Templates and Resources at Tech-Safe Learning