In a major move to protect families online, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) announced on December 31, 2025, that Disney has agreed to pay a $10 million civil penalty. The settlement comes after a deep look into how the company handled its massive YouTube presence.
What Went Wrong?
According to DoJ’s press release, Disney was accused of breaking the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, a law most of us know as COPPA. For your information, COPPA is the rule that stops websites from collecting personal data on kids under 13 without a parent saying it’s okay first. The government’s complaint, filed in a California federal court, claimed that Disney didn’t properly label its videos as being for children.
Because of this, Disney and its partners ended up targeting ads at kids and gathering their info without ever asking the parents. As we know it, Disney’s videos are incredibly popular on YouTube and have been watched billions of times. But because Disney didn’t label these videos as “for kids,” the company skipped the privacy rules that are supposed to automatically protect children, the DoJ explained.
“The government alleged that Disney improperly failed to designate YouTube video content as directed toward children. As a result, Disney, and others acting on Disney’s behalf, targeted advertising toward children on YouTube and unlawfully collected children’s information without parental notice and consent, in violation of COPPA.”
The Government Steps In
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was the group that originally looked into the matter before handing it over to the Justice Department. Further investigation revealed that Disney failed to designate its content correctly despite its popularity with young audiences.
“The Department will take swift action to root out any unlawful infringement on parents’ rights,” noted Assistant Attorney General Brett A. Shumate. He made it clear that the government wants to ensure parents, not corporations, decide how a child’s data is used.
Problem for Families
This isn’t the first time a major platform has faced heat for how it treats children’s data. As Hackread.com recently reported, Roblox was hit with a lawsuit in California for “covertly harvesting data” from its young users. While Disney mislabelled videos, the Roblox suit claims the company used hidden tools to track mouse movements and chat messages to build secret profiles of players.
It must be noted that this isn’t just about the money. While $10 million is a significant fine, the court order also forces Disney Worldwide Services and Disney Entertainment Operations to change how they work. Reportedly, Disney now has to build a specific program to make sure they stay in line with COPPA rules on YouTube from now on.
The legal team involved included names like Zachary A. Dietert and Jacqueline Ford, who worked to finalize this deal. For now, the settlement proves that even the biggest names in entertainment have to play by the rules when it comes to the youngest viewers.
(Photo by Tingey Injury Law Firm on Unsplash)
