The UK’s data tsar has dropped a £14.4 million hammer on Reddit, blasting the platform for shoddy child protection and age checks. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) ruled the California crew didn’t lift a finger to stop under-13s from signing up and scrolling through its wild west of user content.
This bombshell stems from a deep-dive probe into Reddit’s handling of UK users’ data from 2018 to 2023. Regulators found zilch in proactive age vetting—leaving kids wide open to creepy crawlies online and data slurps without mum or dad in the loop.
ICO chief John Edwards called it “concerning” stuff, especially with Reddit’s unfiltered corners brimming with adult fare. Without ironclad age gates, tots risk stumbling into harm’s way, their info harvested like candy from a piñata.
Reddit’s fuming, mulling an appeal. They point to their over-13 terms and tools for flagging kid accounts—but ICO says that’s reactive Band-Aid, not frontline defense. GDPR demands better for vulnerable young users who can’t grasp data traps.
Worse, Reddit’s privacy blurbs? Kid-unfriendly legalese that flouts “fairness” rules. Platforms must spell out data use in simple terms kids get—no smoke and mirrors.
This whopper fine—among ICO’s biggest for child data flops—waves a red flag at global tech titans: play by UK rules or pay up. Safety advocates cheer, slamming self-policing as a joke that leaves kids exposed to endless tracking and algo hooks.
It’s part of a sweeping UK clampdown. Peers like TikTok and others sweat under the microscope for lax defaults and addictive feeds that glue kids to screens.
Reddit’s ad-fueled, community-driven machine now faces a reckoning. Expect pushy fixes like face-scan age guesses or ID uploads—goodbye easy anonymity.
ICO slammed their “wait-and-see” removals: user snitches trigger bans, but thousands of kids roamed free for ages. Proactive screening? MIA.
It’s not just cash—Reddit’s slapped with an enforcement order: revamp data habits, beef up checks, kid-proof privacy info from scratch.
This sets the stage for the Online Safety Act’s teeth, empowering mega-fines for kid-care failures. Reddit’s got till tribunal to cough up or fight.
In the anonymity vs. safety tug-of-war, today’s verdict tilts hard toward shields for the little ones. Tech’s wild days? Numbered.
