The UK Information Commissioner’s Office has fined Reddit £14.47 million for collecting and using the personal information of children under 13 without adequate safeguards, finding that Reddit lacked a meaningful age-verification system until July 2025. The ICO said many underage accounts were processed without a lawful basis and exposed to potentially harmful content, criticized self-declaration age checks as insufficient, and the company intends to appeal; the penalty follows a similar fine for MediaLab over Imgur. #Reddit #ICO #MediaLab #Imgur
Keypoints
- ICO fined Reddit £14.47 million for unlawfully processing data of users under 13.
- Reddit did not implement meaningful age verification until July 2025 despite a 13+ ban in its terms.
- The regulator estimates a significant number of underage children used the platform and were potentially exposed to harmful content.
- The ICO called self-declared age prompts insufficient and urged companies to improve age-assurance measures.
- Reddit plans to appeal the decision, which comes after a similar penalty against MediaLab over Imgur’s children’s privacy failures.