Disney’s settlement follows years of rules requiring YouTube to tag children’s content as “Made for Kids.” Regulators say the company ended up gathering data on young viewers when videos that should have been labeled for kids were treated as if they were not, enabling ad targeting that COPPA forbids.

Officials accuse Disney of failing to re-label hundreds of videos after the platform alerted them. The allegation is straightforward: a batch of content meant for children remained mislabeled, which let data collection and targeted ads flow where federal law says parents—not corporations—decide.

Beyond the fine, Disney must set up a program to accurately determine when videos need a Made for Kids designation going forward. The company’s internal “Audience Designation” process will also be supplanted once YouTube’s artificial intelligence can reliably sort age-specific content, tightening the system even more.

“This case underscores the FTC’s commitment to enforcing COPPA, which was enacted by Congress to ensure that parents, not companies like Disney, make decisions about the collection and use of their children’s personal information online,” FTC chairman Andrew Ferguson said.

“Our order penalizes Disney’s abuse of parents’ trust, and, through a mandated video-review program, makes room for the future of protecting kids online — age assurance technology,” Ferguson added.

Disney responded by stressing its values and the narrow scope of the case. “Supporting the well-being and safety of kids and families is at the heart of what we do,” a Disney spokesperson said. “This settlement does not involve Disney owned and operated digital platforms, but rather is limited to the distribution of some of our content on YouTube’s platform.”

“Disney has a long tradition of embracing the highest standards of compliance with children’s privacy laws, and we remain committed to investing in the tools needed to continue being a leader in this space,” the spokesperson added.

The settlement locks in compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, a law designed to put parents in charge of what data is collected from their kids. Mislabeled content breaks that trust by allowing tracking and ad targeting where consent is supposed to be the gatekeeper, not an afterthought.

Supporters of tougher enforcement see the outcome as a baseline, not a finish line. Getting the labels right—every time—matters because the label drives how data is handled. If a video is flagged as Made for Kids, platforms must turn off data mining and targeting that would otherwise follow a child around the internet.

The order also leans into technology fixes, pushing toward better age assurance and systematic review before content hits massive distribution. That’s where the stakes rise: if platforms and publishers deploy stronger screening up front, they prevent violations rather than apologizing later.

For parents, the core principle is simple and non-negotiable: your child’s data is not a corporate asset. The enforcement message here backs that view and warns every publisher that “we didn’t know” is no defense when kids are involved. The rules exist to protect families first.

Conservatives have long argued that Big Media and Big Tech put profit over parents until they are forced to do better. The tone from regulators and the mandate for preemptive review is a sign that the era of excuses is closing. Families expect action that keeps faith with the law—not carefully worded statements after the fact.

If this settlement drives real compliance across the board, kids win and parents regain control. If it doesn’t, the pressure will grow for even tougher measures that leave no room for mislabeling, no gray zones on consent, and no escape hatches for companies that treat children’s privacy as expendable.