{"id":2259,"date":"2025-07-15T15:01:03","date_gmt":"2025-07-15T15:01:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/2259\/"},"modified":"2025-07-15T15:01:03","modified_gmt":"2025-07-15T15:01:03","slug":"reddit-is-rolling-out-age-verification-in-the-uk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/2259\/","title":{"rendered":"Reddit is rolling out age verification in the UK"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reddit users in the United Kingdom will now be blocked from accessing \u201ccertain mature content\u201d unless they complete the platform\u2019s new age verification process. Reddit announced on Monday<\/a> that UK users will need to upload a selfie or a photo of their government ID in order to view content that\u2019s restricted for under-18s by the UK Online Safety Act (OSA)<\/a>, including abusive, violent, and sexually explicit materials.<\/p>\n

The age verification process is performed by Persona, a third-party provider that won\u2019t have access to users\u2019 Reddit data or retain photos for longer than seven days. Reddit says it also won\u2019t have access to uploaded photos, and that it will only store birthdates and verification statuses so that users don\u2019t need to re-verify their account. I managed to complete the process myself this morning using a selfie in under a minute, though the photo tool had some difficulty detecting when my face was correctly framed.<\/p>\n

\u201cReddit was built on the principle that you shouldn\u2019t need to share personal information to participate in meaningful discussions,\u201d Reddit said in its announcement. \u201cWhile we still don\u2019t want to know who you are on Reddit, there are certainly situations where it would be helpful if we knew a little more about you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reddit noted that there is a \u201cgrowing number of jurisdictions\u201d that have passed or are considering laws that require online platforms to verify the ages of their users. As such, the platform says it\u2019s also introducing a global option for users to provide their birthdate \u201cto help ensure that content and ads are age-appropriate,\u201d and may roll out age verification requirements in other regions.<\/p>\n

More information about the verification process can be found here<\/a>. A list of content categories that are restricted to minors \u2014 some of which could be considered subjective, such as content that \u201cromanticizes\u201d depression, hopelessness, and despair \u2014 can also be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Like a similar age check introduced on Bluesky<\/a> last week, Reddit\u2019s age verification mandate is being introduced to comply with rules under the OSA that require online platforms to implement measures that protect children from seeing harmful and age-inappropriate content by July 25th. According to a report<\/a> published by British communications regulator Ofcom last year, Reddit was the fastest-growing large social media platform in the UK in 2024, experiencing a 47 percent year-on-year increase in reach for adult users.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe UK\u2019s online safety rules are coming into force and change is happening. Society has long protected youngsters from products that aren\u2019t suitable for them, from alcohol to smoking or gambling,\u201d Ofcom said in a statement to The Verge. \u201cNow, children will be better protected from online material that\u2019s not appropriate for them, while adults\u2019 rights to access legal content are preserved. We expect other companies to follow suit, or face enforcement if they fail to act.\u201d<\/p>\n

The announcement also mentioned Reddit \u201cwould like to be able\u201d to confirm whether users are human or not in the new age of AI. Reddit said that it has \u201cmore to come about that later,\u201d suggesting the platform is planning to crack down on AI bot accounts<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reddit users in the United Kingdom will now be blocked from accessing \u201ccertain mature content\u201d unless they complete…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2260,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[84,59,50,305,229,621,306,224,227,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-2259","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-gb","10":"tag-news","11":"tag-policy","12":"tag-politics","13":"tag-reddit","14":"tag-regulation","15":"tag-social-media","16":"tag-tech","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom","19":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2259\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2260"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}