The FTC fines Disney $10 million for violating child privacy laws on YouTube by improperly classifying videos.
Disney's default "Not Made for Kids" setting allowed illegal data collection from children under 13.
The settlement requires Disney to implement a new content classification program unless YouTube introduces age assurance technology.
The Federal Trade Commission has hit The Walt Disney Company with a $10 million fine for violating federal child privacy laws on YouTube, as first reported by Axios. The settlement resolves charges that Disney illegally collected personal data from children under 13 by failing to properly classify its videos on the platform.
Defaulting on safety: The issue stemmed from Disney's practice of setting entire YouTube channels as "Not Made for Kids," which became the default designation for every video uploaded. According to a complaint filed by the Department of Justice, this allowed Disney to circumvent the digital guardrails required by the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), enabling data collection and targeted ads on content featuring franchises like "Frozen" and "Toy Story."
Not their first rodeo: This isn't a new problem for YouTube's ecosystem. The platform only implemented the "Made for Kids" designation after its own record-breaking $170 million FTC settlement in 2019, which put the onus on creators to classify their content. The FTC's complaint suggests Disney was aware of its non-compliance, noting that YouTube had already stepped in to reclassify over 300 of its videos in mid-2020, yet the company's core practices remained unchanged.
A brand-denting fine: The penalty puts Disney, a company built on a family-friendly image, in the uncomfortable position of paying for lapses in child safety online. A Disney spokesperson sought to distance the company from the violations, stating the issue was "limited to the distribution of some of our content on YouTube’s platform."
The settlement requires Disney to implement a new content classification program, but there’s a catch: the obligation is waived if YouTube introduces its own 'age assurance technology' capable of identifying a user's age, signaling a potential future where platform-level tech could supersede creator responsibility. The action against Disney reflects the FTC's broader regulatory focus on issues where tech and culture intersect. For those wanting a deeper dive into the rulebook Disney violated, the history traces back to the FTC's landmark 2019 settlement with YouTube that first established the "Made for Kids" framework.
