MIAMI — Florida officials on Wednesday sued streaming giant Netflix, alleging it misleads parents about how it collects data on minors and harms children with features that lead to "binge watching" content.
The lawsuit, led by GOP Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier, is the latest instance of how Florida has emerged as one of the most aggressive red-leaning states against Big Tech, particularly in the era of artificial intelligence. Uthmeier this year also sued OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, as well as TikTok. He recently kept Florida out of receiving a multi-state settlement against Meta, saying the $17 billion agreed to was "not enough to punish" the company over allegations it failed to adequately protect minors.
The newest move takes direct aim at Netflix's subscription plan that comes with ads — which launched in 2022 — to accuse the company of going back on how it billed itself repeatedly over the years as one unmotivated by surveilling customers' viewing habits. The company in earnings calls presented its approach as distinctly different from other major tech giants that didn't charge for their products yet collected user data for advertising.
The 66-page lawsuit asks a judge to order Netflix to purge data collected "deceptively," to not use data collected before it introduced its ad model, to stop collecting data on kids without more disclosure to parents and to purge data on kids collected up to that point. Representatives for Netflix did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
"We're going to send a message to Big Tech companies: if you hurt our kids, you are going to have to pay for it," Uthmeier said while announcing the Netflix lawsuit from his Miami office. "And so, in this lawsuit, we will be seeking billions of damages."
The lawsuit cites several company investor calls over the years, in which the CEO tamped down questions over whether it would move to advertising and argued that sticking to subscription models allowed the company to avoid "integrating everybody's data." Uthmeier said that instead, "They turned data they were collecting into a big advertising machine" to then earn a "massive profit."
The lawsuit additionally brings up the user prompts for Netflix, including how the service encouraged families to set up profiles for kids, while promising "kid-friendly TV shows and movies with the comfort of parental controls" such as profile locks and maturity filters. While the company may not run targeted ads when minors are watching, the lawsuit says, it "still collects substantial behavior data about them" including what they click, replay or avoid, as well as other apps on their devices, without a "clear or meaningful disclosure regarding those data-collection practices."
Netflix features also try to keep children glued to screens, the lawsuit alleges, including through its default autoplay feature that leads to "binge watching." The lawsuit said this feature and the data collection undermined parental control, and Uthmeier said he didn't want the company "creating addictive features for kids" or "profiting off of kids' data unless they get the permission of the parent."
Uthmeier has been Florida's attorney general since February 2025, when he replaced now-Sen. Ashley Moody. Uthmeier was Gov. Ron DeSantis' chief of staff and his 2024 campaign manager, and is now running in November's election to keep his seat. Uthmeier said during his press conference that his office looked into the issue after hearing from parents about it.