Netflix is being sued by Ken Paxton, the attorney general of Texas, who claims that the streaming service has engaged in “spying on Texans, including children, and collecting users’ data without their knowledge or consent.”
The Republican politician, who is running for the U.S. Senate, alleges that the streamer has violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.
The lawsuit, which was filed May 11 and has been seen by Variety, claims that Netflix traded for several years on the basis that it would not introduce advertising, before doing so in 2022.
The legal filing quotes Netflix’s then-CEO Reed Hastings as saying in January 2020 that: “We don’t collect anything. We’re really focused on just making our members happy, and we’re not tied up with all that controversy around advertising.”
The lawsuit from the State of Texas alleges that “In short, Netflix sold subscriptions to its programming as an escape from Big Tech surveillance: pay monthly, avoid tracking. Texans trusted that bargain. Netflix broke it — constructing the very data-collection system subscribers paid to escape.”
The suit goes on to argue that Netflix is not just operating “surveillance machinery” but that it makes the data it collects available to both advertisers and “commercial data brokers like Experian and Acxiom.”
Additionally, the Texas lawsuit claims that Netflix has intentionally designed its platform to be addictive, pointing to the “autoplay” function that “creates a continuous stream of content intended to keep users, including children, watching for extended periods of time.”
In response to the lawsuit, a Netflix spokesperson said, in a statement: “Respectfully to the great state of Texas and Attorney General Paxton, this lawsuit lacks merit and is based on inaccurate and distorted information.
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“Netflix takes our members’ privacy seriously and complies with privacy and data‑protection laws everywhere we operate. We look forward to addressing the Texas Attorney General’s allegations in court and further explaining our industry-leading, kid‑friendly parental controls and transparent privacy practices.”
Paxton is currently running for a U.S. Senate seat against incumbent Senator John Cornyn, who is also a Republican. The nominee will be determined in a runoff election on May 26.
Hastings, 65, recently announced that he is stepping down as the chairman of Netflix. The announcement of his departure comes at a challenging period for the company, which is actively seeking new avenues for expansion amidst slowing sales and heightened competition.
The decision follows the collapse of a potentially transformative merger with Warner Bros Discovery in February.
