The Majority Report with Sam Seder

Episode 3608: Live From Las Vegas – Gambling Addiction, Video Game Addiction, Human Trafficking, and More
Date: October 22, 2025
Host: Sam Seder

Episode Overview

Broadcasting live from the 2025 Mass Torts Conference in Las Vegas, Sam Seder dedicates this episode to examining a range of urgent social harms intersecting law, technology, and public policy. Featuring a series of interviews with attorneys and advocates, the show dives into the legal battles and personal impacts of video game and social media addiction, human trafficking, online child safety issues, and the explosion of gambling apps. The episode also features irreverent, sharp-witted discussion of contemporary politics, corruption, and the ways systemic issues in tech and government threaten children, young adults, and vulnerable populations.

Key Topics & Segments

1. Political News Recap (00:55-04:30)

• Coverage:
  • Gaza crisis, U.S. naval build-up in Venezuela, ongoing government shutdown and health insurance premium increases.
  • Trump’s bizarre demand for government “reparations” and White House “ballroom” plans.
  • Legal and ethical controversies: ICE violence, Arizona AG lawsuits, special counsel drama.
• Quote:

  “Donald Trump will not give that money to charity. I would be willing to bet every penny I own that that money will not go to charity. Even his own charities did not give money to charities.” — Sam Seder (07:02)

2. Interview 1: Julia Gordon (Meadow Law Firm) – Video Game Addiction Litigation

Timestamps: 12:32–26:51

Highlights:

• Nature of Cases:
  • National litigation on child addiction to games like Minecraft, Fortnite, and Roblox, with harms including “completed suicides, self-harm, decline in academics, kids wearing diapers to stay in tournaments.”
• Legal Arguments:
  • Product liability, failure to warn, negligence.
  • Focus on bringing parental awareness and calling for industry-wide regulation and non-addictive design.
• Industry Methods:

  “These companies have put out into the world a game that continues to keep children on the game... These games are specifically designed to keep children on for longer periods of time.” — Julia Gordon (14:17)

  • Explains “gateway games” and systematic operant conditioning tactics.
• Reforms Sought:
  • Mandatory age verification, removal of loot boxes, and time restrictions.
  • Substantial evidence that companies “specifically hired psychologists, neurologists and other medical professionals… for user engagement, and we call [it] addiction.” (19:13)
• Concerns About the Next Generation:

  “If they can’t get out of bed, if they can’t leave their homes to have jobs, what’s going to happen?” — Julia Gordon (23:46)

• Status:
  • Consolidated state/federal actions; seeking class status due to large affected populations.

3. Interview 2: Alicia Tappan (Survivor Led Solutions) – Human Trafficking Survival and Policy

Timestamps: 27:41–61:13

Highlights:

• Long-term Survivor Advocacy:
  • Organization works on leadership and professional development for trafficking survivors.
• Nature of Trafficking:

  “I like to call it the exploitation of vulnerabilities… labor, online sextortion, sex trafficking, domestic servitude, debt bondage, child soldiers.” — Alicia Tappan (29:01)

• Alicia’s Personal Story:
  • Small town athlete, groomed and assaulted by a beloved coach who built an entire regime of children and adults complicit in or blind to the abuse.
  • Details psychological coercion, manipulation, victim shaming, and institutional failures.
  • Quotes on victim responses:

  “Victims tell. They tell several times, but no one’s listening.” — Alicia Tappan (38:09)

• Justice System Outcomes:
  • Multiple perpetrators convicted, but cycle of abuse and lack of restorative justice remains.
  • Institutional complicity and societal failures discussed.
• Prevalence & Modern Dynamics:
  • Dispels media myths: trafficking happens most often online, in plain sight, to average youth.
  • “More trafficking now happens online… you’ve never actually met” the trafficker (48:03).
• Legal & Practical Barriers:
  • U.S. response is overwhelmingly reactive—lack of robust prevention or actionable data collection on grooming; calls for “primary prevention.”
  • Reveals ongoing tentacle-like structures of trafficking and exploitation.
• Key Quote:

  “Anybody can be trafficked. It’s not just trauma, it’s not just the broken home, it’s just youth.” — Sam Seder, paraphrasing Alicia (64:20)

4. Interview 3: Emmy Palos (Levin Papantonio) – Social Media Addiction Lawsuits

Timestamps: 74:35–85:39

Highlights:

• Case Targets:
  • Meta (Facebook, Instagram), TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube.
• Nature of Claims:
  • Kids under 18 addicted to platforms; injury encompasses depression, anxiety, body dysmorphia, eating disorders, suicidal thoughts and attempts.
  • Arguments focus on product liability, alleging platforms designed “unreasonably dangerous” for children.
• Evidence & Process:

  “It’s pretty nuanced… we go feature by feature and see how that particular feature contributes to the addiction.” — Emmy Palos (79:47)

  • Features analyzed include infinite scroll, beauty filters, lack of natural endpoints.
  • Discovery completed; ~3,800 plaintiffs (low due to stigma, privacy, etc.).
• Reforms Sought:
  • In-app, enforceable parental controls, real age verification, making platforms “a safer place for children to utilize social media.”

5. Interview 4: Jeff Gaddy (Levin Papantonio) – Roblox Lawsuits & Child Safety

Timestamps: 86:29–102:11

Highlights:

• Nature of Harm:
  • Roblox designed as a “breeding ground and playground for pedophiles” due to no meaningful age verification or moderation.
  • “You have a platform that is designed and marketed directly to children… and there are no age verification protocols put in place by Roblox.” — Jeff Gaddy (87:24)
  • Details grooming, sextortion, in-person abuse, blackmail, and company’s persistent claims of safety despite knowledge.
• Company Incentives:
  • Monetization, user engagement, endless content/“experiences,” platform’s “aging up” strategy now targets adult users.
• Lawsuit Goals:
  • Product liability, failure to warn, require robust age verification, mandatory parental consent, and transparency around risks.
  • Emphasis on tech capacity:

    “If the algorithm can serve up things to make us more engaged on an app, they also have the capacity to serve us up stuff that doesn’t make us more engaged.” — Sam Seder (141:34)

6. Interview 5: Yvonne Flattery (Lockridge Grindel Nauen) – Sports Betting Apps & Addiction

Timestamps: 132:03–145:49

Highlights:

• Scope of Problem:
  • Legal explosion in sports betting following regulatory loosening.
  • Focus on 18-26 y/o men, many starting in fantasy sports, “designed to target and give that dopamine rush.”
• Harms:
  • Highest suicide attempt rate among addictions, mounting bankruptcies, student loan money gambled away, massive marketing to college students.
  • “Colleges were getting paid for students to sign up on these apps… the marketing on college campuses is off the charts.” — Yvonne Flattery (137:29)
• Industry Practices:
  • Product liability focus—apps use behavioral analytics for engagement but not for harm mitigation.
• Sought Reforms:
  • Age/income verification, mandatory cool-down periods, algorithmic duty to prevent harm.
• Plaintiff Class:
  • Several thousand already, growing fast.

7. Political Analysis and Commentary

Threaded Throughout

• Discussion of Political Accountability:
  • Critique of Democratic politicians’ record and “red flags” (ex. Platner’s tattoo controversy) (106:31–124:21).
  • Criticism of Medicare-for-All opponents (Mallory McMorrow segment, 109:13–116:57).
• ICE Presence in NYC:
  • Viral right-wing personality triggers ICE raid; host and co-host lampoon the performativity and harm of such actions (67:01–73:56).
• Andrew Cuomo Likability Discourse:
  • Hilarious deconstruction of Cuomo blaming unpopularity on being “big” and “Italian,” skewering deflection away from policy and misconduct (126:11–130:51).
• Jeffries, Extremism, and The Rhetoric of Democratic Leadership:
  • Scrutiny of official messaging in the face of real policy threats and violence (148:37–152:27).

Notable/Memorable Quotes

• “These are not the games that you and I may have played growing up. There’s no end. What the gaming companies call user engagement, we call addiction.” — Julia Gordon (13:41)
• “I was the girl who should know better… and I’m sitting here just doing nothing… Next memory I have is my head hitting the back of a hot tub. Now I’m being raped by two of my friends. The coach is above it on a balcony recording it.” — Alicia Tappan recounting her story (35:56)
• “Victims tell. They tell several times but no one’s listening.” — Alicia Tappan (38:09)
• “Addiction is anything that’s considered unhealthy use… waking up in the middle of the night to see what’s happening on social media… having its claws in you.” — Emmy Palos (77:28)
• “The downside is that if you’re limiting users’ engagement, it’s hurting our metrics… and metrics are key for technology companies like Roblox.” — Jeff Gaddy (95:55)
• “The casino is in their back pocket.” — Yvonne Flattery (144:30)

Major Takeaways

• The march of app-based technologies for entertainment, communication, and gambling is outpacing both regulation and common-sense parental awareness — often by corporate design.
• Legal actions across the country are targeting the profit-oriented, engagement-maximizing, and exclusion-resistant design features of the tech/gaming/gambling industries.
• The same engagement algorithms used to maximize profits can, but aren’t, be used to mitigate harm.
• Human trafficking is both more prevalent and more ordinary than the dominant Hollywood narrative; prevention and victim re-integration remain grievously under-resourced.
• Political discourse often fails to provide substantive solutions or even name the real sources of systemic risk and violence.

Episode Structure & Timestamps

| Time | Segment/Interview | Description | |----------|-----------------------|-------------------| | 00:55–04:30 | Political Recap | Gaza/Trump/Shutdown/etc. | | 12:32–26:51 | Interview 1: Julia Gordon | Video Game Addiction Litigation | | 27:41–61:13 | Interview 2: Alicia Tappan | Human Trafficking Testimony | | 74:35–85:39 | Interview 3: Emmy Palos | Social Media Addiction, Lawsuit | | 86:29–102:11 | Interview 4: Jeff Gaddy | Roblox, Online Predators, Lawsuit | | 132:03–145:49 | Interview 5: Yvonne Flattery | Sports Betting Apps, Youth Addiction | | (throughout) | Political Analysis | Cuomo, ICE, Jeffries, Democratic candidates | | (end) | IMs, Wrap-up | Listener messages & closing commentary |

Tone & Style

• Wry, irreverently analytical, but deeply empathetic—especially in the interviews.
• Tech and law explained plainly; personal stories treated with gravity and respect.
• Plenty of biting humor, especially during political skewerings and New York-centric banter.

Bottom Line

This episode of The Majority Report highlights how new digital frontiers—gaming, gambling, social media—present profound and often unaddressed risks for children and society. Through legal battles, survivor stories, and expert insights, the show exposes regulatory vacuums, corporate incentives misaligned with public health, and the ongoing failures of political leadership to get ahead of systemic harm. The blend of long-form interviews and sharp political critique provides a roadmap for meaningful reform and deeper public understanding.