The $3 Million Verdict Against Meta and Google | Joseph VanZandt | Have A Seat

Have A Seat with Chris Hansen

Chris Hansen

True Crime

4.8 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 30 April 2026

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As Chris Hansen continues to spread the word and educate parents on the dangers that social media and gaming platforms could have to children, a recent landmark verdict against these big tech companies might just be shifting the narrative. On this episode of Have a Seat with Chris Hansen, Joseph VanZandt, an attorney with the Beasley Allen Law Firm leading the national social media litigation, joins Chris to discuss the recent ruling in favor of his client to the tune of 3 million dollars. The California jury found in favor of “Kaley’s” claims that the compulsive and obsessive use of social media starting as a young child, led to years of depression and anxiety, and that Google and Meta were to pay damages. Hansen and VanZandt hope that this is a step in the right direction of holding these companies responsible and that it is the start of signifiant changes when it comes to the safety of our children on social media. Special Thanks: Beasley Allen Law Firm https://www.beasleyallen.com Photo Credits: https://www.arturobejar.org Sponsors: OneSkin: Get 15% off OneSkin with the code HANSEN at https://www.oneskin.co/HANSEN #oneskinpod AquaTru: Head to https://AquaTru.com & use code HANSEN for 20% off your purifier and a 30-day best-tasting water guarantee Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Recently two landmark court cases verdicts holding social media platforms responsible for addicting children to the platforms and the associated damage it causes children.
0:23.3	Now, these cases have been working their way through the court systems for quite some time.
0:29.0	But in just one week, a major case in New Mexico and another in California.
0:34.8	The California case revolved around a young woman, now 20, who claims that
0:40.1	she suffered depression, body dysmorphia, and all kinds of other issues because of the
0:45.3	addictive nature, the deliberate addictive nature of both meta, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube,
0:53.3	which is Google, and you can imagine how difficult this was to get
0:58.1	these cases to court.
0:59.6	And one of the plaintiff's lawyers, lawyers who represented KGM, the girl, is joining me
1:05.4	now to have a seat and talk about all of this.
1:08.1	Joseph Van Zand, thank you for having a seat with me.
1:10.5	I appreciate it. Yeah. Thank you very much for having a seat with me. I appreciate it.
1:12.0	Yeah. Thank you very much for having me. I'm glad to be here.
1:14.6	What message does this verdict send to the big tech companies like Google, YouTube, and meta?
1:24.4	The message it sends is that these companies are no longer above the law. They're no
1:29.8	longer free from accountability. We have courts, judges, and juries around the country that are
1:36.7	that are fed up with their behaviors, the way that they treat children, that put their profits
1:42.1	over the safety of their own users, especially children.
1:45.2	And everyone's fed up with it.
1:46.5	I mean, here in the United States, around the world, you're seeing massive change in how
1:51.7	these companies are perceived.
1:54.6	And here in the United States, with our court system, one of the quickest ways to bring
	...

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