Disney faces a $10 million fine for infringing on children's privacy on YouTube.

Disney has agreed to pay a $10 million civil penalty and implement comprehensive compliance measures as part of a settlement with the Department of Justice (DoJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), following allegations that it enabled targeted advertising campaigns on child-directed videos improperly designated as Not Made for Kids (NMFK) on YouTube.

The enforcement action against Disney comes as part of a series of major COPPA enforcement actions targeting digital platforms and content creators. The settlement was announced on September 2, 2025, following the filing of a complaint by the DoJ.

According to the complaint, Disney operated over 1,250 YouTube channels during the relevant period from 2020 to present, uploading tens of thousands of videos. These videos generated hundreds of millions of views and over 100 million hours watched during three months of the pandemic period in 2020 alone.

The mislabeling exposed children to features YouTube routinely disables for Made for Kids (MFK) content, including comment capabilities, autoplay to non-children's content, video saving functions, and notification systems.

The settlement requires Disney to establish an Audience Designation Program to review each video published to YouTube for 10 years to determine appropriate COPPA designation. The settlement also mandates standard COPPA compliance measures, including providing proper notice to parents before collecting children's personal information and obtaining verifiable parental consent for data collection and use.

Disney generated advertising revenue through two primary mechanisms on YouTube: a portion of revenues from advertisements YouTube places alongside Disney videos and direct advertising sales within Disney's video content. The violations centered on Disney's systematic failure to designate child-directed content as MFK on YouTube.

The regulatory environment reflects growing recognition that traditional online safety approaches may not adequately protect children in modern digital environments. New COPPA rules took effect on June 23, 2025, with enhanced requirements for operators collecting children's personal information, including stricter consent requirements for third-party data sharing and expanded definitions of child-directed services.

The settlement acknowledges potential technological solutions, allowing Disney to phase out manual review if YouTube implements age assurance technology that ensures COPPA compliance. Major platforms have responded to regulatory pressure by implementing enhanced protections for minors, such as Google consolidating its advertising policies for children and teens in January 2025.

Companies cannot rely solely on channel-level designations when uploading content that may reach children, regardless of primary audience targeting. The settlement establishes clear expectations for COPPA compliance responsibilities on platforms like YouTube for content creators and advertisers.

After the settlement mandate against Disney by the FTC and the DoJ in September 2025, Disney is required to implement stricter compliance measures and undergo regular oversight to ensure adherence to antitrust regulations. The settlement's provision allowing technological alternatives to manual review acknowledges that innovation could provide more effective and scalable protection methods.