Florida AG James Uthmeier sues Netflix, saying tech giant monitors kids’ activity

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced a lawsuit against Netflix in Miami on Wednesday morning saying the tech giant is monitoring children’s activity on the platform and profiting from it.

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The state is seeking billions in damages.

Uthmeier said when parents pay the monthly subscription for Netflix, they believe they are escaping advertisements and Big Tech surveillance.

He said Netflix has turned into a data machine, with Netflix engineers describing it as a logging company that occasionally streams movies.

Amanda Altman is the CEO of Christy’s House, which is a children’s advocacy center.

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She joined Uthmeier at the press conference on Wednesday and said she sees the consequences of the harm that big tech causes children every day, whether it’s children who are exposed to sexual or violent content, or children who are bullied online.

Uthmeier said parents complaining prompted his office to look into Netflix.

“If a company is going to be monitoring every single click and scroll and swipe, then you better put people on notice and be honest with them that there are going to be behavioral monitors and reactions based on the various things you’re doing with the application,” Uthmeier said. “So, in hearing from parents, we started looking at this. We looked at promises the company made that were violated, and it’s very clear that they’ve opened up a very large advertising arm of the business, which they said they were not going to do, and unfortunately have deceived parents.”

In addition to money, the complaint is seeking to have Netflix get rid of all the data it collected from Floridians and for the company to stop using addictive features on the platform.

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CBS News Miami reached out to Netflix for comments and has yet to hear back.

This report was produced by Miami Herald news partner CBS News Miami.