Overview

• On July 14, Reddit began requiring UK users to verify they are over 18 via third-party provider Persona before accessing mature content.
• Users upload either a selfie or government ID for verification, and Persona automatically deletes these images after seven days while Reddit stores only verification status and birthdate.
• These checks implement the UK Online Safety Act’s 'highly effective' age-assurance requirement ahead of the July 24 compliance deadline.
• Ofcom has warned that tech-savvy minors may still bypass the system, and digital privacy experts caution that platform-based verification poses security and efficacy concerns.
• Reddit also rolled out an optional global birthdate feature, and its UK rollout follows a U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding Texas’s age-verification law.