Published
September 28, 2025
Updated
September 25, 2026
There is no consumer claim form here — this is an FTC enforcement action — but the $10 million penalty forces Disney to relabel its child-directed YouTube videos and rebuild its COPPA compliance.
What Is the Disney FTC Case About?
The FTC announced that Disney agreed to pay a $10 million civil penalty to resolve allegations that certain Disney-uploaded YouTube videos were not properly designated as made for kids, facilitating the collection of personal data from children under 13 without parental consent required by the Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule (COPPA). The stipulated order also requires new compliance measures.Where things stand now: the court approved and entered the order on December 23, 2025, so the government case is over, and there is still no claim form and no money for families. A separate private class action over the same YouTube videos is pending in Los Angeles federal court. The judge dismissed the first version of that complaint in June 2026 with permission to refile, and Disney asked him on September 15, 2026 to dismiss the amended version. That private case has not produced a settlement with Disney or any claim process as of September 25, 2026 — see the Disney YouTube class action section below.
Status
Court Order Entered · FTC Case Resolved
announced September 2, 2025 · order entered December 23, 2025 (C.D. Cal. No. 2:25-cv-08223)
Civil Penalty
$10,000,000
paid to the U.S. Treasury, not to individual consumers
Type
Government Enforcement Action
Federal Trade Commission · not a class action, no claim form, no consumer payouts
Alleged Violation
COPPA Rule (Audience Designation on YouTube)
child-directed videos allegedly mislabeled as Not Made for Kids, enabling data collection from under-13s without parental consent
What Changes
Mandatory Audience-Designation Review Program
Disney must implement COPPA notice and verifiable parental consent procedures and long-term compliance reporting
What Is COPPA?
The Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) is a federal law that protects the privacy of children under 13 years old. It requires websites, apps, and online services directed to kids to get parental consent before collecting personal information like names, emails, geolocation data, or browsing habits. The FTC enforces COPPA and can fine companies that violate the rule.Free settlement alerts
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Why Did the FTC Fine Disney?
The FTC says Disney mislabeled child-directed YouTube videos as “Not Made for Kids.” This caused YouTube to collect children's data and show personalized ads without parental consent, which is a violation of COPPA. The $10 million penalty is meant to enforce compliance and prevent future violations.Did Disney Collect Children's Personal Data?
According to the FTC, mislabeled videos enabled YouTube's systems to collect data such as viewing history, device identifiers, and potentially location data from children under 13. This information was allegedly used for targeted advertising on videos that should have been flagged as child-directed.What Happens to the $10 Million Disney Paid?
The $10 million is a civil penalty that goes to the U.S. Treasury. It is not distributed to families or children who viewed the videos. Unlike some FTC settlements that include consumer refunds, this case provides no direct compensation to viewers.Will Disney Refund Parents or Viewers?
No. There is no consumer refund program in this case. The penalty is strictly a government fine paid to the Treasury. Parents or viewers cannot file a claim for money.What Changes Must Disney Make After the Settlement?
Disney must create a review program to correctly label each video it uploads to YouTube. All content that is child-directed must be marked “Made for Kids.” Disney is also required to comply with COPPA notice and parental consent rules, maintain compliance records, and allow FTC monitoring.Which Disney Videos Were Affected?
The FTC complaint mentions videos tied to Frozen, Encanto, Moana, Cars, Tangled, Ratatouille, Toy Story, Inside Out, Finding Dory, The Incredibles, Coco, and Mickey Mouse. These videos should have been labeled for kids but were marked incorrectly.Is This the First Time the FTC Penalized a Content Creator?
Yes. While YouTube itself paid $170 million in 2019 for COPPA violations, this case marks the first time the FTC held a content creator like Disney responsible for mislabeling and compliance failures on YouTube.How Does This Compare to Other COPPA Settlements?
Disney's $10 million fine is smaller than other recent COPPA cases. Epic Games paid $275 million in 2022, Amazon paid $25 million in 2023, and Google and YouTube paid $170 million in 2019. Disney's penalty reflects its role as a creator rather than a platform, but it sets an important precedent.What Should Parents Know?
Parents should know this case highlights the importance of how kids' videos are labeled online. Even trusted brands like Disney can face penalties if videos are mislabeled. Parents should monitor what their children watch on YouTube and check whether videos are marked as “Made for Kids.”Is There a Settlement Fund for Consumers?
No. This is not a consumer restitution settlement. The $10 million is a civil penalty paid to the U.S. Treasury. There is no claims website and no refunds available to viewers.How Do I Qualify For a Payout?
There is no payout to consumers in this matter. Because it is a civil penalty case, you cannot file a claim for money.What Compliance Changes Did Disney Agree To?
Under the court order entered December 23, 2025, Disney must run a program for 10 years to review whether each video it uploads to YouTube should be designated Made for Kids, unless YouTube adopts age-verification technology or drops the Made for Kids label. Disney must also follow COPPA's notice and verifiable parental consent requirements, and it must meet compliance-reporting and recordkeeping duties for years. These obligations are designed to prevent data collection from children without parental permission.Do I Need To File a Claim?
No. There is no claim form. If you see websites promising refunds tied to this case, verify with the FTC's official pages before sharing any personal information.Is There a Class Action Over Disney's YouTube Videos?
Yes, but it is a separate private lawsuit, it is still being argued over at the pleading stage, and it has nothing to claim. Parents started filing proposed class actions within days of the FTC announcement. The lead case, S.K. v. Disney Worldwide Services, Inc., No. 2:25-cv-08410, was filed on September 5, 2025 in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. It is assigned to U.S. District Judge George H. Wu. The defendants are Disney Worldwide Services, The Walt Disney Company, Google LLC and YouTube. A second complaint, Popa v. Disney Worldwide Services, Inc., No. 2:25-cv-09390, was filed in the same court. Florida Politics reported that a parent also filed a proposed class action in federal court in Orlando.The private complaints build on the government's allegations. They claim Disney set whole YouTube channels to “Not Made for Kids” instead of reviewing each video, so YouTube's advertising systems collected identifiers such as cookies and device IDs from children under 13 without their parents' consent. Disney and Google deny the claims. No court has found that either company did anything unlawful, and in the FTC order Disney neither admitted nor denied the government's allegations.
Where the case stands (as of September 25, 2026):
• April 2026 — motions to dismiss. MediaPost reported that Disney argued the complaint did not identify a single video any child watched, or when. Google argued that even if the allegations were true, they would not show it knowingly collected data from children.
• June 2026 — first complaint dismissed, with leave to amend. Judge Wu issued a tentative ruling on June 15, 2026 dismissing the claims against Disney, YouTube and Google because the plaintiffs had not listed specific videos they watched. Bloomberg Law reported on June 17 that he adopted the ruling as final and allowed an amended complaint, which had to make the claims plausible.
• September 15, 2026 — Disney moves to dismiss again. Disney asked the court to throw out the amended complaint. Law360 reported that the motion came days after YouTube said it had reached a settlement in the case. No terms, class definition, court approval or claim process had been made public for that YouTube settlement as of September 25, 2026. Disney has not settled and is still fighting the case.
For parents, the practical answer is the same as for the FTC case: there is nothing to file today. If a settlement in the private case is ever approved, the court will appoint an administrator and a notice will explain who qualifies and how to file, free of charge. OCA will cover it if that happens. Until then, treat any site asking for your child's information to “join” a Disney YouTube settlement with caution. For an example of how a children's privacy class action works once it does settle, see the Google Play children's privacy settlement.
What Are the Important Dates?
• FTC announcement and filings: September 2, 2025
• First private class action filed (C.D. Cal. No. 2:25-cv-08410): September 5, 2025
• Court enters the stipulated order and $10 million civil penalty judgment: December 23, 2025
• FTC announces court approval: December 31, 2025
• Private class action dismissed with leave to amend: June 2026
• Disney moves to dismiss the amended class complaint: September 15, 2026
Which Videos Were Flagged?
According to the FTC, examples included content related to The Incredibles, Coco, Toy Story, Frozen, and Mickey Mouse. The issue centered on how videos were designated for kid audiences on YouTube.Bottom Line
The FTC case is finished: a court-entered $10 million civil penalty and a 10-year labeling program, with no consumer payout. The only route to money for families would be the separate private class action, which has no settlement with Disney and no claim process as of September 25, 2026.Other Disney Class Actions & Enforcement Matters
This FTC COPPA case is one of several Disney-related cases consumers track. The most commonly confused with it are:• Disneyland Facial Recognition Class Action (Duffield v. Disney, S.D.N.Y., May 2026). A new private class action complaint alleging Disney began collecting facial recognition biometric data from guests at the Disneyland and Disney California Adventure entrances on or around April 28, 2026 without adequate consent, including from children. Allegations only; no settlement, no claim form. Directly relevant to this COPPA case because the facial recognition complaint argues that minors cannot meaningfully consent to biometric collection — the same theme COPPA polices for under-13 data. Read the Disney facial recognition class action complaint page.
• Disney ESPN $50M YouTube TV & DirecTV Stream Antitrust Settlement. A class action alleging Disney used its ownership of ESPN and Hulu to inflate streaming live TV prices for YouTube TV and DirecTV Stream subscribers. Court preliminarily approved the deal on March 31, 2026. The claim and opt-out deadline was September 8, 2026, and the final approval hearing is set for January 14, 2027. Read the Disney ESPN YouTube TV & DirecTV Stream $50M settlement page.
• Disney & California AG — $2.75M CCPA Privacy Settlement. California Attorney General Rob Bonta fined Disney $2.75 million for ignoring opt-out requests on Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. Like this FTC matter, it’s a government enforcement action with no consumer claim form. Read the Disney CCPA settlement breakdown.
Sources
• FTC Press Release (September 2, 2025)• FTC Press Release: Court Approves Disney Order (December 31, 2025)
• Complaint, United States v. Disney Worldwide Services, Inc., No. 2:25-cv-08223 (C.D. Cal.)
• Stipulated Order for Permanent Injunction and Civil Penalty Judgment (entered December 23, 2025)
• FTC Case Page
• Reuters coverage
• FTC Consumer Alert
• Bloomberg Law: Disney's defeat of children's YouTube privacy lawsuit confirmed (June 17, 2026)
• Law360: Disney and YouTube defeat kids' data privacy suit, for now (June 15, 2026)
• Law360: Disney wants kids' data privacy claims tossed for good (September 15, 2026)
• MediaPost: Disney, Google seek dismissal of children's privacy claims (April 9, 2026)
• Florida Politics: Disney sued in Florida after FTC settlement
No Claim Form Available
For more class actions keep scrolling below.
Settlement Amount
$10,000,000 civil penalty
paid to the U.S. Treasury · there is no consumer fund and no claim form
Case Title
United States v. Disney Worldwide Services, Inc., et al.
filed by the Justice Department on referral from the FTC
Case Number
2:25-cv-08223
stipulated order entered December 23, 2025
Court
U.S. District Court, Central District of California
Official Website
FTC — Disney Case Page
