Disney must pay $10 million(nova janela) to settle allegations by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that it failed to label its children’s videos on YouTube as Made For Kids — despite warnings from YouTube — leading to the collection of information on children under 13, in violation of COPPA. Disney did not admit any wrongdoing as part of this settlement.

What is COPPA?

The US Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule(nova janela) (COPPA) requires websites and online services to:

  • Ask for parental consent before collecting personal information relating to children under 13.
  • Collect only the information necessary to fulfill the service’s purpose; secondary uses such as marketing require additional parental consent.

Disney failed to apply YouTube’s content labeling

Disney uploaded videos aimed at children to YouTube but failed to label them Made for Kids, meaning many of the safeguards YouTube puts in place for children did not apply. YouTube has required these labels on children’s content since it was forced to implement a content labeling system(nova janela) in 2019 following its own $170 million settlement(nova janela) with the FTC over COPPA violations.

Disney’s failure to correctly label these videos resulted in the following:

  • Disney collected children’s personal information when they watched these videos without asking for their parents’ consent.
  • Children were targeted with online advertising intended for older people.
  • Children were shown autoplay Not Made for Kids videos after the Disney ones finished.

Instead of being individually labeled Made for Kids or Not Made for Kids, the videos were uploaded to Not Made for Kids channels and were therefore automatically assigned the Not Made for Kids label by default.

Disney claims the videos were mislabeled in error, but YouTube warned Disney in 2020 that it had been forced to re-classify more than 300 of its videos from Not Made for Kids to Made for Kids. These videos included content and music from The Incredibles, Coco, Toy Story, Frozen, and Mickey Mouse. Despite this warning, Disney made no effort to change its policy.

In addition to the $10 million civil settlement, Disney has agreed to ensure parental consent is obtained before collecting children’s data (as already required by COPPA), and to create a program to ensure its videos are correctly labeled. It must maintain this program for 10 years or until YouTube implements its own age verification system.

What you can do to keep your kids safe on YouTube

YouTube does offer parental controls(nova janela) that you can use to stop data collection and prevent your children from seeing inappropriate content. However, there is little you can do if companies ignore the system.

If your children are old enough, the best solution is to talk to them about how YouTube works. Tell them that it collects data on everything they do and could end up showing them content they didn’t expect or necessarily want.

This obviously won’t work for smaller children. In this case, the best thing to do is simply be present while the children are watching YouTube. This also means not letting the children watch on a tablet or phone alone or with headphones. Even if you’re not actively watching with them, if you’re nearby, it gives you a greater chance of intervening if inappropriate content comes up.

YouTube and age verification

Internet safety for kids has become a hot issue in 2025, in large part kicked off by the UK’s controversial Online Safety Act(nova janela) coming into force. This requires a very wide range of websites (much larger(nova janela) than the “porn websites” the law is ostensibly aimed at) to verify that visitors are over 18. Many other places around the world, including the EU(nova janela), Australia(nova janela), and Canada(nova janela), look set to follow the UK’s example.

Google has responded to this growing concern over online safety for kids by announcing(nova janela) plans to use AI machine learning to infer a viewer’s age based largely on what videos they watch. How long they’ve been using the service will also be a factor.

If, based on this detailed analysis of your personal viewing habits, Google thinks you’re under 18, it will disable personalized advertising and place some age-appropriate limits on recommendations and your ability to repeatedly view some content.

If you’re incorrectly flagged as a minor, you’ll need to verify your age by giving Google your credit card information or a government ID. Although the rollout for this has been very cautious in the US, “we’ve used this approach in other markets for some time, where it is working well”.

Why this matters

For parents, this isn’t just about a $10 million fine — it’s about whether you can trust companies like Disney or Google to safeguard your children and follow the law. Cases like this show the uphill battle parents face when trying to keep their kids safe online.

For Disney, a $10 million fine is a mere slap on the wrist, but this settlement indicates that the international discourse around online child safety is shaping the regulatory landscape in the United States.

Many states(nova janela) have now introduced age verification legislation, and in June 2025, the Supreme Court upheld(nova janela) a Texas online age verification law. Calls for similar legislation at the federal level resulted in the reintroduction to Congress of the Kids Online Safety Act(nova janela) (KOSA), a controversial bill (with both bipartisan support and opposition) that failed to pass in 2024. Other age verification legislation (such as the App Store Accountability Act(nova janela)) is also gaining momentum.