Disney is fined a $10 million civil penalty to settle allegations from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC claims Disney failed to properly label some YouTube content as “Made for Kids,” which led to data collection from children under age 13 without parental consent. The company also allegedly allowed age-inappropriate YouTube features to apply to those videos.
The violations and settlement
The FTC complaint alleges that Disney designated entire channels as “Not Made for Kids” and used that default label for all videos on those channels, even when some videos had content meant for children. As those videos were mislabeled, children were exposed to ads and features that are supposed to be restricted under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The misclassification involved content from known franchise films like “Frozen,” “The Incredibles,” “Toy Story” and “Coco.”
Under the settlement, Disney must pay the $10 million penalty and set up a program to review whether new videos should be labeled “Made for Kids.” The company must ensure that parental consent is obtained where required, and must apply COPPA’s rules for content appropriately. The order also includes provisions for maintaining a review program unless YouTube introduces its own age assurance tools to determine user age or category.
Strict policy on child-friendly content
COPPA requires creators and platforms to notify parents and obtain verifiable consent before collecting personal data from young children. YouTube added labeling options in 2019, allowing channels or individual videos to be marked “Made for Kids” or “Not Made for Kids” to comply. In 2019, YouTube and Google paid $170 million for previous violations and Disney’s current settlement reflects continuing enforcement of those rules.
Creators and content providers may face closer scrutiny over how they classify videos. Misclassification can expose channels to compliance risks, especially if regulators find data was collected improperly.