UK fines Reddit for not checking user ages aggressively enough

February 25, 2026

Here's something that caught my attention — Reddit just got slammed with a £14.5 million fine from the UK ICO. Why? Because they didn’t do enough to verify if their users, especially kids under 13, were actually old enough. According to Jon Brodkin writing in Ars Technica, the ICO found that Reddit failed to put proper age checks in place before July 2025, which meant they were unlawfully handling children’s personal info. Now, Reddit did roll out a system last year that asks users to declare their age before viewing adult content — but Jon Brodkin points out that relying on users to honestly state their ages isn’t enough. The ICO remains worried about whether Reddit’s current system is truly safe, especially since kids could still slip through the cracks. So what does this actually mean for you? It’s a reminder that social platforms are under intense pressure to protect young users — and regulators aren’t messing around.

A UK regulator today fined Reddit £14.5 million ($19.6 million) for not verifying the ages of users. The UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) alleged that the failure to check ages resulted in Reddit illegally using children’s personal information.

"Our investigation found that Reddit failed to apply any robust age assurance mechanism and therefore did not have a lawful basis for processing the personal information of children under the age of 13... These failures meant Reddit was using children’s data unlawfully, potentially exposing them to inappropriate and harmful content," an ICO press release said.

The ICO findings are based on Reddit's actions prior to its July 2025 rollout of a system that verifies UK users’ ages before letting them view adult content. But the ICO said it is still concerned about Reddit's post-July 2025 system because the company relies on users to declare their ages when opening an account.

Audio Transcript

View original article

0:00/0:00