Overview

• Beginning July 14, Reddit began blocking UK users under 18 from accessing sexually explicit, violent, self-harm and hate speech content until they complete Persona’s age verification.
• Persona verifies ages using selfies or government IDs and deletes uploaded images after seven days while Reddit stores only users’ birthdates and verification statuses.
• Ofcom stated the measures will shield children from harmful material and preserve adults’ access to legal content while warning noncompliant platforms they face enforcement.
• Privacy experts caution that collecting identity documents for age checks poses security risks despite data-minimizing practices.
• Reddit also introduced a global birthdate option to personalize content and ads, signaling potential age verification rollouts in other jurisdictions.