Disney class action overview:
- Who: A California federal judge tossed a class action lawsuit filed against The Walt Disney Co., YouTube and its parent company, Google LLC.
- Why: The judge determined the plaintiffs in the case failed to establish standing.
- Where: The class action lawsuit was filed in California federal court.
A California federal judge has dismissed a class action lawsuit alleging Disney and YouTube allowed advertisers to illegally collect personal data from children.
U.S. District Judge George H. Wu dismissed the case against Disney, YouTube and Google on June 15. The judge found the plaintiffs failed to identify specific videos they watched that led to the alleged improper collection of their data, but gave them an opportunity to refile.
The class action lawsuit alleges Disney and YouTube failed to mark videos as “made for kids,” allowing third-party advertisers to collect personal information from children under 13 in violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, known as COPPA.
The dismissal follows a separate Federal Trade Commission action settled in September 2025, in which Disney agreed to pay $10 million over allegations it collected children’s data without parental consent.
Judge Wu found that while the plaintiffs provided examples of videos they said were mislabeled, they failed to identify any specific videos a plaintiff actually watched, including the dates of viewing and the YouTube channels involved — leaving the court unable to assess whether they were concretely harmed.
Judge Wu: Plaintiffs must move allegations ‘from a possibility to plausibility’
According to a Law360 report, the judge said, “Without further factual allegations in this regard, the court has a real concern whether any/all of the plaintiffs even have Article III standing.”
Article III standing is a constitutional requirement that plaintiffs in federal court demonstrate a concrete, particularized injury that is traceable to a defendant’s conduct and not merely a possibility of harm.
The judge rejected the plaintiffs’ argument that specific video information was unnecessary at this stage and also dismissed their claim that defendants’ exclusive control over video labeling data excused them from pleading those specifics.
“Plaintiffs have provided general allegations consistent with a possibility,” Wu said, as reported by Law360. “But they have not provided facts that take their allegations from a possibility to plausibility.”
Wu declined to permanently toss wiretap claims at this stage, leaving the door open for those allegations to survive in an amended complaint.
What do you think of the allegations in this Disney YouTube class action lawsuit? Let us know in the comments.
The plaintiffs are represented by William J. Edelman of Milberg Coleman Bryson Phillips Grossman PLLC and Tina Wolfson of Ahdoot and Wolfson P.C.
The Disney class action lawsuit is In re Disney Worldwide Services COPPA Litigation, Case No. 2:25-cv-08410, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
Don’t Miss Out!
Check out our list of Class Action Lawsuits and Class Action Settlements you may qualify to join!
Read About More Class Action Lawsuits & Class Action Settlements:
- Florida lawsuit claims TikTok allows underage users, exposes minors to harmful content
- Johnson & Johnson faces $32M verdict over Johnson’s Baby Powder cancer claims
- Target recalls Up & Up baby wipes due to potential microbial contamination
- Mindvalley class action claims company tricks consumers into unwanted subscriptions
