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Regulators alleged that Disney failed to identify certain videos as being directed at children, despite the content being clearly child-focused. As a result, children were allegedly served targeted advertisements and had their personal information collected without proper notice to or consent from parents.
Disney’s alleged mislabelling undermined safeguards designed to prevent targeted advertising on children’s content. (Photo: AP)
UPDATED: Dec 31, 2025 04:50 IST
The Walt Disney Company has agreed to pay $10 million (£7.4 million) to settle allegations that it violated US children’s privacy laws by failing to properly label some of its YouTube videos as content made for children, allowing targeted advertising and the collection of personal data without parental consent.
The settlement follows an investigation by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) into Disney’s handling of children’s data on third-party platforms. The agreement, first announced in September, was formalised through a federal court order, the US Department of Justice said on Tuesday.
Regulators alleged that Disney failed to identify certain videos as being directed at children, despite the content being clearly child-focused. As a result, children were allegedly served targeted advertisements and had their personal information collected without proper notice to or consent from parents.
The case centres on the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), a 1998 law that restricts the collection and use of personal data from children under the age of 13. Under COPPA, content creators must notify parents and obtain verifiable consent before collecting personal information from young users.
According to the FTC, Disney’s alleged mislabelling undermined safeguards designed to prevent targeted advertising on children’s content, particularly on platforms such as YouTube.
DISNEY AGREES TO PENALTY AND COMPLIANCE MEASURES
As part of the settlement, Disney also agreed to establish a compliance programme to ensure adherence to children’s data protection laws. The Department of Justice said the programme is intended to prevent similar violations in the future.
“The Justice Department is firmly devoted to ensuring parents have a say in how their children's information is collected and used,” Brett Shumate, an assistant attorney general in the justice department's civil division, said in a statement announcing the court order.
The company has previously said the settlement applies only to the distribution of some Disney content on YouTube and does not involve Disney-owned and operated digital platforms.
YOUTUBE’S CHILD CONTENT POLICY
The case builds on regulatory changes introduced after a 2019 settlement between the FTC and Google, YouTube’s parent company. That agreement required YouTube to change how it handles children’s content, including obliging creators to label videos that are directed at kids.
Those labels are meant to ensure that children’s content is not used for targeted advertising or extensive personal data collection, practices prohibited under COPPA.
According to a Justice Department complaint filed in California, Disney uploaded content to more than 1,250 YouTube channels through multiple subsidiaries starting in 2020. Many of the videos were described as “extremely popular,” with viewership surging during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic as families turned to online entertainment.
Regulators said Disney was aware of problems with how its videos were labelled as early as June 2020. The legal filing alleges that YouTube informed Disney that it had reclassified more than 300 videos after determining they were directed at children.
Those videos reportedly included content linked to major Disney franchises such as The Incredibles, Toy Story and Frozen.
- Ends
With inputs from agencies
Published By:
Satyam Singh
Published On:
Dec 31, 2025
