Disney to Pay $10 Million for Violating Children’s Privacy Rules with Certain YouTube Videos
Disney has agreed to pay $10 million to settle a dispute with teh Federal Trade commission (FTC) over allegations that it mislabeled children’s videos on YouTube. The FTC claimed that Disney designated videos aimed at children as not made for kids, wich allowed YouTube to show targeted ads and collect personal data from underage users, violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Since 2019, YouTube requires content creators to label videos as made for kids or not, to restrict data collection and inappropriate ads on children’s content. despite being warned in 2020, Disney failed to properly label many videos, leading to the complaint and subsequent settlement. Under the agreement, Disney must implement a decade-long program to review and correctly designate its YouTube videos. Disney stated the issue was an inadvertent administrative error and emphasized its commitment to protecting children’s privacy. The FTC highlighted this case as part of its ongoing efforts to enforce COPPA and safeguard children’s online data.
Disney will pay $10 million to end a dispute with the Federal Trade Commission, which said the entertainment giant mislabeled videos on YouTube.
As noted by Axios, the impact of Disney’s actions was that by marking videos in which children were the target audience as not made for children, the videos were then targeted by YouTube for online ads.
The FTC release noted that data of underage users was collected, which contravened the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule.
In 2019, YouTube required content providers to designate videos made for kids and those not made for kids, so that those made for kids would not have features such as ads that might have inappropriate content or the collection of personal information.
Disney to Pay $10 Million to Settle FTC Allegations the Company Enabled the Unlawful Collection of Children’s Personal Data. pic.twitter.com/PJwVuoIXls
— Luis Montezuma | @[email protected] (@montezumachavez) September 2, 2025
In order to comply with COPPA, YouTube in 2019 began requiring creators to indicate whether their videos are made for kids or not made for kids.
The former designation ensures that some features on videos — like the collection of personal data for targeted advertising, posting of comments, and autoplay of age-inappropriate content — are disabled.
Collecting personal information of children under 13 can only be done if parents approve, according to an FTC news release.
Disney’s actions in not properly marking videos drew a complaint from the Department of Justice after the matter was referred by the FTC.
The @FTC just settled a case against Disney for allegedly violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act by collecting the personal data of kids without the consent of their parents and systematically mislabeling its online content. Disney has agreed to pay a $10 million…
— Andrew Ferguson (@AFergusonFTC) September 2, 2025
“This case underscores the FTC’s commitment to enforcing COPPA, which was enacted by Congress to ensure that parents, not companies like Disney, make decisions about the collection and use of their children’s personal information online,” FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said.
“Our order penalizes Disney’s abuse of parents’ trust, and, through a mandated video-review program, makes room for the future of protecting kids online — age assurance technology,” he said.
The complaint said that even though Disney was told in 2020 that many of the videos it uploaded to YouTube that were intended for a childhood audience were not properly marked to restrict inappropriate ads and information collection, Disney did nothing.
As part of the settlement, Disney will mark which videos should have limits on information collection and ads.
“Supporting the well-being and safety of kids and families is at the heart of what we do,” a Disney representative said, according to Axios. “This settlement does not involve Disney-owned and -operated digital platforms, but rather is limited to the distribution of some of our content on YouTube’s platform.”
“Disney has a long tradition of embracing the highest standards of compliance with children’s privacy laws, and we remain committed to investing in the tools needed to continue being a leader in this space,” the representative said. Disney indicated that what it framed as an administrative error was inadvertent.
In a statement, Ferguson said, “Under today’s agreement, Disney must implement, for a period of 10 years, an Audience Designation Program to review each of its videos published to YouTube to determine whether it is child-directed and must be designated MFK. The Commission acknowledges that this relief will impose burdens on Disney.”
“This Commission under President Trump is a cop on the beat protecting our markets and consumers,” he said in the statement.
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