The company has resolved a federal case on how it has wrongly labeled children’s videos on YouTube.
The Walt Disney Company has agreed to pay 10 million millions in the FTC settlement, which has eliminated the federal legalization of how it has handled the privacy of children on YouTube. The matter was brought by the Federal Trade Commission and Disney was focused on videos uploaded on the platform, mostly in the early days of Covade 19 pandemic diseases.
This is noteworthy because it is the first famous example in which a material provider on YouTube, rather than a platform, has faced direct results of the FTC for child privacy violations. The move can indicate a widespread pressure from regulators to make companies accountable for how their videos are labeled and distributed on sites they do not control.
The FTC alleged that Disney had failed to mark some videos as made for children. By not implementing this label, videos were automatically available for targeted advertising, a process that is strictly banned under the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, demanding a law passed in 1998 that companies did not receive data from children under the age of 13.
Most videos that gave birth to the complaint contained storytime clips in which celebrities were reading books to children. These recording were shared on YouTube as part of Disney’s access during epidemic diseases, when families were largely limited to their homes. Although the company maintained that the problem was created by an administrative mistake, it acknowledged the mistake and agreed to resolve the matter instead of fighting the matter in court.
This order also needs to create a “Audience Office” program from Disney, which will ensure that all future uploads can be reviewed before making internal reviews. Disney already had a system to comply with the privacy rules on YouTube, but the company said it would now increase these processes so that repeated issues could be avoided.
Disney emphasized that the videos that represent only a very small section of the material uploaded to YouTube are representing. A spokeswoman said the company takes the safety of children seriously and emphasizes that the settlement does not include the Disney -owned platform, just some material jointly on YouTube. The spokesperson also said that Disney has a long history to follow the privacy laws and will continue to invest in Tools Tools to maintain these standards.
The FTC did not comment on the matter, and YouTube also refused to discuss it. Nevertheless, the case increases the growing record of children’s online privacy fines. YouTube itself has been fined hundreds of millions of dollars against the same law. In 2019, Google and YouTube paid Million 170 million to address a major issue that involves similar concerns. Last month, YouTube agreed to a $ 30 million settlement in another children’s privacy case.
Other large tech and gaming companies have also been subjected to major fines. In 2022, Fortatite makers, epic sports, agreed to pay $ 275 million after accusing children of collecting data from children without proper consent. Tactics, Microsoft, and others have suffered a fine of their Copa in recent years.
The major problem is how the platform and publishers confirm the age of the online viewers. With millions of videos uploading every day, errors can be easily made, and it has been difficult to implement permanent safety measures. However, regulators have made it clear that companies cannot ignore the needs of the law, regardless of how complex compliance.
Children’s privacy supporters have pressured lawmakers to approve strong rules for age. Although some states have taken their actions, these efforts often fall into legal challenges. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court upheld a decision linked to online age checks, which renewed the federal quality call. A bill, the Kids Online Safety Act, has been re -presented to the Congress but it is not yet available.
Meanwhile, YouTube is developing new ways to test age estimates for users. Its leaders have admitted that keeping young people online is ultimately the responsibility of the platform, though content providers like Disney are now being calculated.
The FTC settlement indicates how companies are not only under pressure to handle their platforms, but also shared their content elsewhere. Although Million represents a small personality for a 10 million penalty -shaped company, the contract sends a clear message that regulators expect strong monitoring in the protection of children’s privacy online.
Sources:
Disney will pay $ 10 million to fix children’s privacy case with FTC
The company enabled the company to pay illegal storage of children’s personal data to pay Million 10 million to fix the Disney FTC charges
