U.K. Reddit users now required to verify their age under new Online Safety Act

By lauraharris // 2025-07-20

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To comply with the U.K.'s Online Safety Act, Reddit now requires users to verify their age with a government-issued ID or selfie via identity firm Persona to access mature content.
The law, fully effective from 25 July, mandates strict age verification for sites hosting adult material. Simple self-declaration is no longer acceptable under Ofcom's enforcement.
Platforms that fail to meet the requirements face fines of up to £18 million ($24 million) or 10 percent of global revenue. Ofcom can also force ISPs, advertisers or payment processors to cut off services.
While Reddit claims it won't store ID images, privacy advocates warn the system sets a dangerous precedent for surveillance and undermines anonymous online participation.
Experts like David Greene of the EFF call the law a "tragedy" and criticize platforms like Reddit for not challenging it in court, warning of its broader implications for digital rights.

Reddit users in the United Kingdom are now being forced to verify their age using government-issued ID or facial recognition technology to access content marked as unsafe for minors, as the platform complies with the new Online Safety Act (OSA). The OSA, which takes effect fully on July 25, requires websites hosting adult material to implement "robust" age checks to prevent under-18s from accessing inappropriate content. The British Office of Communications (Ofcom), which is responsible for enforcing the Online Safety Act, has made it clear that the old model – where users could simply click a button to confirm they were over 18 – is no longer acceptable. Platforms found in breach of the rules face fines of up to £18 million ($24 million) or 10 percent of global turnover, whichever is greater. In the most serious cases, the regulator can request that payment processors or advertisers cut ties with a site or even require internet providers to block access entirely within the United Kingdom. Reddit, which has long been a bastion of semi-anonymous discussion and user-created communities, began rolling out its new system on July 14 in partnership with identity verification company Persona. Reddit now asks U.K. users to submit either a photo of a government-issued ID, such as a passport or an uploaded selfie to confirm their age. Refusal to comply results in blocked access to large parts of the platform, regardless of the user's age. (Related: UK begins digital ID push with launch of verification tech and online portal for accessing private info.)

Privacy advocates slam the U.K.'s new age checks

Reddit has emphasized that it will not store images or full ID documents, logging only a user's verification status and date of birth. Persona said it deletes selfies within seven days and does not track browsing activity on Reddit. Still, privacy advocates argue the infrastructure now being built represents a dangerous shift toward surveillance-by-default. "Despite these assurances, the fact remains: the state now requires people to hand over personal identification simply to access legal online discussions," Ken Macon wrote in his article for Reclaim the Net. "Even more alarmingly, the regulator has been granted the power to disrupt business operations entirely, potentially forcing ISPs to block sites or pressuring advertisers and payment providers to cut ties with platforms deemed non-compliant." Ofcom welcomed the move and urged other platforms to follow Reddit as an example. But not everyone agreed that the new law strikes the right balance. "There's always going to be ways that kids can get around it and there's always going to be concerns about who's collecting personal or sensitive information and how long are they holding it," said Scott Babwah Brennen, the director of the Center on Technology Policy at New York University. David Greene, civil liberties director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, was more direct. "U.K. users can no longer use the internet without having to provide their papers, as it were," he said. Greene described the law as "a real tragedy" and criticized companies like Reddit for not pushing back more forcefully in court. Learn more about ID systems and other ways governments attempt to surveil their populations at Surveillance.news. Watch this clip from InfoWars as host Harrison Smith talks about how the World Economic Forum is preparing to launch a global digital ID system.

This video is from the InfoWars channel on Brighteon.com.

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Privacy advocates slam the U.K.'s new age checks

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