Disney To Pay $10 Million Over Children’s Privacy Violations on YouTube

The Walt Disney Company has agreed to pay $10 million (£7.4 million) following allegations that it violated U.S. children’s privacy laws by failing to correctly label certain YouTube videos as content designed for kids. This mislabelling allegedly allowed targeted advertising and the collection of children’s personal data without parental consent.

The settlement stems from an investigation conducted by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and was formalised through a federal court order issued by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

What Sparked the Investigation?

Regulators claimed Disney did not mark several clearly child-focused videos as content directed at young audiences, which triggered privacy violations under federal law. As a result, advertising systems treated the videos like regular content — not children’s programming.

The case revolves around COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act) — a law that restricts companies from collecting personal information from children under 13 without informed parental approval.

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.

Settlement Details — Penalty and Compliance Commitments

Along with the financial penalty, Disney must introduce stronger internal controls to ensure compliance moving forward.

“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 clarified that the agreement only applies to specific content distributed through YouTube and does not include its own digital platforms.

YouTube’s Child Content Policy — A Wider Regulatory Shift

Policy Background From Earlier FTC Actions

The enforcement action builds on policy changes implemented after the 2019 FTC settlement with Google, which required creators and distributors to label videos intended for children.

Those labels were created to ensure:

• No targeted ads appear on kids’ content

• Personal data from children under 13 is not collected

• Platforms comply strictly with COPPA rules

Disney’s alleged violations show how complex compliance remains when distributing content through third-party platforms.

What Investigators Found

Disney Content Across 1,250 Channels

The DOJ complaint states that Disney distributed videos across more than 1,250 YouTube channels beginning in 2020 — many of which surged in popularity during the Covid-19 lockdown period.

Regulators said Disney was alerted to problems as early as mid-2020:

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.

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.

These flagged videos reportedly included major Disney franchises such as Frozen, Toy Story, and The Incredibles — properties widely consumed by young audiences.

Why The Case Matters for Parents and Content Creators

This settlement reinforces:

• Stricter monitoring of kids’ content

• Higher accountability for entertainment companies

• Clearer expectations around data protection

It also signals that regulators are willing to take action even against the largest players in media and technology when children’s privacy is at stake.