*Courtesy of ©Walt Disney Co./Courtesy Everett Collection.*

The Federal Trade Commission has fined Disney $10 million for failing to properly label children’s videos on YouTube, allowing data collection for targeted ads.

The FTC said Disney violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by not designating certain videos as “Made for Kids,” a requirement designed to shield children under 13 from data tracking.

“Our order penalizes Disney’s abuse of parents’ trust, and, through a mandated video-review program, makes room for the future of protecting kids online — age assurance technology,” FTC Chair Andrew Ferguson said, adding that the order imposes a mandatory video-review program and supports future age assurance tools.

Disney said the settlement covers only content distributed on YouTube, not its own platforms. “Supporting the well-being and safety of kids and families is at the heart of what we do.”

The case follows YouTube’s $170 million settlement in 2019 over similar violations, which led to new rules requiring creators to mark content as child-directed.

According to the FTC complaint, YouTube flagged nearly 300 Disney videos in 2020—including clips from Frozen, Coco and Toy Story—that had not been properly labeled. Disney had set designations at the channel level, leaving many child-focused videos such as sing-alongs and story readings incorrectly tagged as “Not Made for Kids.”

The FTC said Disney benefited financially through ad revenue sharing and direct ad sales. Videos labeled for kids disable features like comments and autoplay, reducing ad targeting opportunities.

Under the settlement, Disney must create an Audience Designation Program to ensure all YouTube videos are classified correctly. The deal also opens the door for YouTube to implement age verification technology to reduce reliance on manual labeling.

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