Disney’s blatant disregard for child privacy has been exposed, and their excuse of “accidental” violations is a shameless attempt to dodge accountability before the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
Since 2019, YouTube has enforced the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), forcing channel owners to flag content for kids, triggering a restricted mode that kills comments and blocks data collection for targeted ads.
But Disney? They couldn’t be bothered. Instead, they let countless videos stay mislabeled as “adult,” raking in sensitive data from children to fuel their advertising machine, all while pretending the rules didn’t apply.
This wasn’t some innocent oversight — Disney knew full well that their content was wrongly categorized and deliberately turned a blind eye. The company cashed in on this reckless scheme, exploiting young viewers’ data with zero regard for the law or their safety. Now, the FTC has finally called them out, but the punishment is a laughable slap on the wrist: a measly $10 million fine and a hollow promise to behave. For a media behemoth like Disney, that’s pocket change — likely dwarfed by the profits they’ve already pocketed from this blatant violation.
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This outrage exposes the rotten core of corporate greed, where a giant like Disney can trample child privacy laws and walk away with a fine that barely stings. The message is clear: regulations are toothless, and accountability is a joke. Until harsher penalties hit where it hurts, companies will keep treating kids’ data like a free-for-all, leaving parents and regulators to pick up the pieces of this digital betrayal.
