- Disney agrees to pay $10 million for violating COPPA in children's YouTube videos.
- The company labeled videos clearly aimed at minors as general content, allowing data collection.
- The agreement obliges Disney to implement a compliance program and clearly inform parents.
- The case is part of the US authorities' offensive against the use of children's data on digital platforms.
La The Walt Disney Company has agreed to pay $10 million to close a legal case in the United States concerning the alleged misuse of children's data in children's videos posted on YouTube. The sanction is based on the alleged violation of the regulations of children's online privacy, in a case that once again puts the business model of large platforms under scrutiny when it comes to audiences under 13 years of age.
The agreement, approved by a federal judge at the request of the Department of Justice (DOJ) following an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), does not imply that the company formally acknowledges its responsibility, but it does entail strict obligations of parental control And transparency about how it collects and manages the personal information of children who view its content online.
What happened to Disney's children's videos on YouTube?
According to the lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice, Disney did not correctly label it as “Made for children” (Made for Kids, MFK) hundreds of videos aimed at children that were published on the company's YouTube channels. This label is key because it tells the platform that it should drastically limit the collection of personal data and disable personalized advertising when the content is clearly intended for children.
By not using child-friendly labeling and leaving many videos as general content or “Not Made for Kids” (NMFK), these audiovisual materials were treated by the system as if they were for all audiences. In this way, YouTube was able to collecting data from children under 13 and using it to display targeted adssomething that is expressly prohibited by US child privacy regulations.
US authorities maintain that this classification failure was not a mere technical detail, but rather had real impact on the privacy of millions of minors who consume content from brands as popular as Disney Channel, Pixar, or Disney Junior. According to the FTC, Disney's decision not to properly review the labeling facilitated the activation of advertising and data analytics systems that should not have been used in clearly child-friendly environments.
From the perspective of European families, the case is particularly striking because Much of this content is also consumed massively in Spain and the rest of the EU via YouTube. Although the procedure is based on a US law (COPPA), it demonstrates the global concern over the processing of children's data on major video and streaming platforms, and the need to prevent grooming.
The Department of Justice, through Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate, emphasized that the agency is “firmly committed to ensuring that parents have a voice and control” regarding the information collected about their children. In her statement, she made it clear that she will act swiftly against any violation of families' rights in the digital environment.
Prior warnings and persistence of the problem
One of the most striking points in the file is that Disney allegedly continued to use inappropriate labeling even after receiving clear warnings by YouTube. According to the case documentation, in 2020 the Google platform itself changed the classification of more than 300 Disney videos, changing them from NMFK (general content) to MFK (children's content), which represented a an unmistakable sign that they were intended for a children's audience.
Despite that warning, the FTC and the Department of Justice believe that the company did not perform a systematic correction across its entire catalog Nor did it adopt sufficiently robust measures to prevent the continued improper collection of data from minors. The result, according to the authorities, was the continuation of practices contrary to COPPA for a long period of time.
The complaint alleges that, thanks to these incorrect configurations, Identifiers and other personal information were collected from users under the age of 13. that they watched clearly childish videos, and that this data was used to serve targeted advertising to that audienceThe FTC considers it especially serious that all of this occurred on channels with a huge power of attraction over children, which increases the potential impact of any improper handling of data.
From a regulatory perspective, the case reinforces the idea that the Responsibility does not fall solely on the technology platformsbut also in large content companies that use these channels to distribute their products. For the authorities, the size or reputation of a company does not exempt it from scrupulously complying with online child protection regulations.
European families and organizations that have been asking for years greater control over advertising aimed at children This case is seen as yet another example of the need to strengthen the obligations of multinational entertainment companies. Although the proceedings are taking place in the United States, the debate is the same as that occurring in the European Union with regulations such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Digital Services Act.
The legal framework: COPPA and the precedent of Google and YouTube
The sanction against Disney is based on the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)The US law that protects the privacy of children under 13 on online services. This law requires websites, apps, and platforms clearly aimed at children to... Inform parents in an understandable way about the personal data they collect and get a verifiable consent before storing or using that information for commercial purposes.
In addition to the transparency obligation, COPPA It limits what type of data can be processed and what it can be used for. This applies to content aimed at children. It affects both the platform operators themselves and the companies that manage children's channels on them, such as Disney on YouTube.
The “Made for Kids” labeling system on YouTube didn't appear out of nowhere. It was implemented as a result of a historic 2019 deal in which Google and YouTube paid $170 million to resolve their own COPPA violations. From that point on, content creators and companies that manage channels were obligated to classify their videos according to whether they are for children or for a general audience, with direct consequences for data collection and advertising.
Since then, YouTube has publicly insisted that the The responsibility for labeling lies with those who upload the videos.whether they are small creators or large corporations. The Disney case illustrates that, even with top-notch technical and legal resources, poor labeling management can lead to massive breaches of children's privacy regulations.
For users in Spain and the rest of Europe, accustomed to frameworks like the GDPR, COPPA may be somewhat reminiscent of the enhanced obligations that exist here when data processing affects minors. Although the legal systems are different, the Regulatory trends are converging: greater protection and less room for hyper-segmented advertising when the target audience is children and teenagers.
$10 million fine and new compliance obligations for Disney
The court agreement approved in the United States sets a $10 million civil fine for Disney for alleged COPPA violations related to his YouTube videos. It is a significant penalty, although smaller compared to other multi-million dollar cases in the technology sector, which the authorities justify by the need to send a deterrent message to the entire digital entertainment market.
Beyond the economic component, one of the central elements of the agreement is the obligation for the company to implement a internal program to ensure compliance with children's privacy regulationsThis involves reviewing content upload workflows, strengthening tagging processes, and continuously verify that videos aimed at children are correctly marked as “Made for children” in Youtube.
Disney will also have to clearly inform parents and guardians Before collecting any personal data from children under 13 through their content on digital platforms, companies must align their policies with COPPA requirements. The agreed framework also establishes oversight mechanisms by the authoritiesso that it can be verified whether the company maintains the promised measures over time.
The court order emphasizes that the sanction It does not imply an express admission of guilt on the part of DisneyThis is common practice in these types of agreements in the United States. However, in practice, it places the company under a stricter surveillance regime and requires structural changes to its data policies and its relationship with platforms like YouTube.
These types of compliance commitments usually have a contagion effect in other marketsIn Europe, where Disney also operates on a large scale through television channels, its streaming service, and agreements with platforms, it would not be surprising if the company proactively strengthened its child data protection mechanisms. avoid conflicts with EU data protection authorities, very active in this area.
The case sends a clear message to the online children's content industry: It is not enough to produce videos “for the whole family”When they are explicitly directed at children, legal obligations multiply And errors in labeling or data management can result in multimillion-dollar fines, damaged reputation, and increased regulatory pressure worldwide.
