Texas sued Netflix on Monday, accusing the streaming company of spying on children and designing its platform to be addictive. Ken Paxton , the Texas attorney general, said Netflix has for years falsely represented to consumers that it did not collect or share user data, when it actually tracked and sold viewers’ habits and preferences to commercial data brokers and advertising technology companies, making billions of dollars a year. The Los Gatos, California-based company was also accused of quietly using “dark patterns” to keep users watching, including an autoplay feature that starts a new show when a different show ends. Netflix did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The company issued a statement in response: “Respectfully to the great state of Texas and Attorney General Paxton, this lawsuit lacks merit and is based on inaccurate and distorted information. Netflix takes our members’ privacy seriously and complies with privacy and data‑protection laws everywhere we operate.…