Reddit is introducing age verification for UK users

Reddit has announced it will begin verifying the ages of users in the UK, responding to a new law coming into effect this month.

“[T]he UK Online Safety Act has new requirements to implement additional measures to prevent children from accessing age-inappropriate content,” Reddit’s chief legal officer Ben Lee aka u/traceroo posted to r/RedditSafety on Monday. “So, starting July 14 in the UK, we will begin collecting and verifying your age before you can view certain mature content.”

Initially passed in 2023, the UK Online Safety Act requires all platforms that host certain restricted content to establish an age verification system by July 24. While many users turn to Reddit for primarily family-friendly matters, the platform also has a substantial collection of NSFW subreddits which would fall under the UK’s new legislation.

As such, Reddit has partnered with Persona, a third-party age verification provider. Users in the UK who wish to access restricted content will need to upload either a selfie or their government ID, which Persona will use to verify that they are over 18. Users who don’t pass this check will not be able to access such content, including that which is sexually explicit.

Reddit has stressed that this system is only to verify users’ age, and it has no interest in your identity. Lee further stated that Persona won’t know what subreddits you visit, and has promised it won’t keep users’ uploaded images more than seven days. Even so, having to upload their driver’s license to access adult material will no doubt make many Reddit users uncomfortable. 

“Reddit will not have access to the uploaded photo, and Reddit will only store your verification status along with the birthdate you provided so you won’t have to re-enter it each time you try to access restricted content,” wrote Lee (emphasis original). “Your birthdate is never visible to other users or advertisers, and is used to support safety features and age-appropriate experiences on Reddit.”

While Reddit is only introducing Persona’s age verification for users in the UK, it’s also making changes in other regions. Lee also announced that the platform is introducing the option for users to provide their birthdate to “optimize your Reddit experience.” Specifically, Reddit states that this will enable them to tailor content and ads depending upon a user’s age.

Lee further hinted at upcoming updates intended to confirm whether a user is an actual human or an AI bot, stating that there will be “more to come about that later.”

“We’re carefully watching how the law evolves,” they wrote. “No specific timeline. And we continue to advocate for alternative approaches that don’t require platforms to ask for id’s.”

Age verification laws spark digital privacy concerns

Lee also indicated that Reddit may be pushing back against such age verification laws as they are currently formulated. 

“Is Reddit just watching or is it fighting against such legislation?” asked user u/shiruken. “On a related note, why can’t the digital wallets on smartphones enable age/identity verification for apps and services? They have your digital ID, why can’t they offer endpoints for getting the owner’s age and some kind of unique identifier?”

“Gee, it’s as if you were listening in on my conversations with regulators…” responded Lee.

As it stands, the UK Online Safety Act requires individual websites to collect users’ information and verify their age, leaving it up to the platforms to ensure they comply with the law. Free speech and digital privacy experts have expressed serious concerns regarding such age verification requirements, stating that they’re ineffective, unenforceable, and present serious privacy risks.

In contrast, a device-based system would store verification of a user’s age on their phone, tablet, computer, or on their device manufacturer’s network. Such devices would have pre-installed blocks on restricted websites, which would only be lifted once the user’s age has been verified. 

Adult content platform Pornhub has argued for device-based age verification systems for several years, claiming that it will allow for more consistent enforcement. Pornhub’s parent company Aylo has agreed to verify UK users’ ages in compliance with the new law, though it hasn’t yet disclosed what information it will gather in order to do so. Aylo has already blocked multiple U.S. states due to their age verification laws.

Governments across the globe have paid considerable attention to online age verification in recent years. Australia is set to introduce age checks for people who use search engines while logged in to Google or Microsoft accounts, with the new requirements coming into effect from the end of this year. However, while experts agree that children should not access material that is inappropriate for their age, significant misgivings remain regarding the effectiveness of such age verification laws.