Netflix class action lawsuit overview:
- Who: Two parents filed a class action lawsuit against Netflix Inc.
- Why: The plaintiffs claimed Netflix markets its service as safe while using addictive design features to collect children’s data for advertising.
- Where: The Netflix class action lawsuit was filed in Ohio federal court.
A new class action lawsuit alleges Netflix markets its service as safe for kids while secretly tracking children’s viewing habits to boost advertising income.
Plaintiffs Kayla Mosley and Jonathan Austin, both Ohio parents, claim the company never disclosed the practice to families.
Mosley and Austin allege Netflix spent years marketing its kids’ profiles as safe and separate spaces designed to protect children. Despite those promises, Netflix collects behavioral information from children through the same logging systems used elsewhere on the platform, the class action lawsuit claims.
The parents argue Netflix monitors what children watch, rewatch, abandon, search for and pause to build behavioral profiles. Citing lawsuits by the Texas and Florida attorneys general, the complaint adds that Netflix has shared user data with brokers such as Experian and Acxiom since launching advertising in November 2022.
The plaintiffs allege the surveillance happens without parents’ authorization. They also raise concerns about the present and long-term effects of Netflix’s allegedly defective program design, such as the autoplay feature, on their children’s mental health.
Mosley and Austin want to represent a class of Ohio residents who subscribed to Netflix as a Household or Extra Member and are parents or legal guardians of one or more minor children. The proposed class is limited to Ohio.
Netflix allegedly uses ‘dark patterns’ to keep children watching
The Netflix class action lawsuit alleges the company engineered its platform with “dark patterns,” or interface designs that manipulate user behavior, to maximize addictive viewing among children. Netflix turns on autoplay by default to remove natural stopping points between episodes, which undermines parental control of screen time and increases the data it can collect, the plaintiffs claim.
Mosley and Austin claim the design caused emotional distress for themselves and health problems for their children, including addiction, anxiety, depression and lack of sleep. The lawsuit accuses Netflix of violating Ohio consumer protection and product liability laws.
The plaintiffs demand a jury trial and request declaratory and injunctive relief and damages. They also want Netflix ordered to purge data collected from Ohioans and turn off default autoplay on children’s accounts.
Are you an Ohio parent with a Netflix subscription? Let us know in the comments.
The plaintiffs are represented by George W. Cochran III of the Law Office of George W. Cochran.
The Netflix class action lawsuit is Mosley, et al. v. Netflix Inc., Case No. 5:26-cv-02534, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.
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