Disney has agreed to pay $10 million to settle charges from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that it violated federal law by failing to properly label animated videos on YouTube, which allowed it to illegally collect personal information from children.
How is Disney breaking the law?
The FTC alleges that Disney failed to label some popular animated cartoons uploaded to YouTube as “ Made for Kids .” This labeling makes the videos ineligible for certain features, such as collecting personal information , and is intended to make it harder to target children with personalized ads . Rather than labeling individual videos as “Made for Kids” or “Not Made for Kids,” the FTC alleges that Disney left the default labeling of “Not Made for Kids.”
See also: Australia: Social media ban for children – Privacy concerns
As a result, videos with content from children’s movies like “The Incredibles,” “Toy Story,” and “Frozen” were marked as “Not Made for Kids,” bypassing YouTube’s increased restrictions. This allowed YouTube to automatically play other videos, also not suitable for children, after the Disney videos ended. At the same time, Disney was able to collect information about children and serve targeted ads on videos that were technically not designed for minors. This practice allegedly violated the Protection Act Privacy Online (COPPA), which requires parental consent to collect information from children under 13.
YouTube implemented the video labeling system after its own settlement with the FTC in 2019 for alleged violations of the COPPA Rule. The government claims that Disney should have been aware that some of its videos were incorrectly labeled, as YouTube notified Disney in 2020. At that time, it had changed the labels on more than 300 of its videos from “Not Made for Kids” to “Made for Kids.” Despite this, Disney continued to upload videos with the default label, according to the FTC.
See also: Mental health & screens: A vicious cycle – Concern for children
Under the proposed settlement, Disney will pay $10 million, obtain parental consent to collect data from children under 13, as required by law, and create a new program to review videos uploaded to YouTube. This program must be maintained for the next ten years, unless YouTube develops its own system to determine the age, age range, or age category of all YouTube users. If that happens, Disney will no longer need its own system to flag videos.
The Disney case highlights how difficult the balance between content creation and protecting minors online. While the amount of the settlement ($10 million) may seem small compared to the company's profits, the damage to its image is significant: a company that promotes itself as a "family brand" is accused of neglecting the most vulnerable segment of its audience, children.
See also: Roblox: Brings new parental controls to protect children
The case raises a larger question: how applicable COPPA is in the era of platforms like YouTube, where the volume of content is enormous and flagging mechanisms often rely on automation or the good faith of creators. Similar cases show that responsibility cannot lie solely with the content provider or the platform, but requires cooperation and constant monitoring. For Disney, the case serves as a reminder that building family trust is harder than building a new blockbuster movie.
🔒 Protect your privacy with Proton VPN
Swiss VPN from the creators of Proton Mail — strict no-logs policy, strong encryption, and built-in NetShield that blocks ads, trackers, & malware.
- ✔ No-logs, based in Switzerland (except 14-Eyes)
- ✔ NetShield: blocks ads, trackers & malicious domains
- ✔ Covers all devices — free version available
The link is an affiliate link — SecNews may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. It does not affect the independence of our article writing.
