What to know
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Reddit hit with a £14.47 million fine by the UK’s ICO for failing to properly verify user ages, exposing kids to harmful content.
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Discord tested the same service, Persona, in the UK but ditched it amid user fury over privacy risks like government data access.
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Both cases stem from the Online Safety Act pushing platforms to protect minors online.
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Calls grow for Apple and Google app stores to handle age gating instead of forcing users to submit IDs repeatedly.
Both Reddit and Discord find themselves under fire for mishandling age checks designed to shield kids from online dangers. Platforms must now navigate the UK’s Online Safety Act, which demands robust verification to block minors from harmful material. They turned to a third-party provider, Persona, but the results have sparked regulatory penalties and user revolt.
Age verification sparks fines and fury
Reddit’s troubles escalated this week when the Information Commissioner’s Office slapped the site with a record £14.47 million fine—the largest ever for child privacy failures. Investigators found the platform lacked solid age assurance, relying too heavily on self-reported ages that kids could easily fake. This left under-13s slipping through to adult content, breaching data laws that require extra safeguards for minors’ info.
Reddit rolled out Persona’s selfie or ID scans last summer to comply, insisting it avoids storing full identities to protect privacy. Still, the ICO ruled the checks fell short, processing kids’ data unlawfully without proper risk assessments. The company plans to fight the fine, arguing it balances safety with user anonymity.
Persona’s pitfalls and platform fixes
Discord’s saga unfolded differently but hit similar snags. The chat app ran a limited UK test with Persona earlier this year, prompting users to upload faces or government IDs for age confirmation. Backlash exploded when privacy hawks spotted Persona’s policy allowing pulls from government records and public databases—raising specters of surveillance and data leaks. Cybersecurity digs revealed easy workarounds to bypass checks, and a prior breach at a related firm exposed 70,000 IDs. Discord’s head of product policy quickly clarified the trial ended, with all data deleted post-verification, and scrubbed Persona mentions from its site. Now, the platform defaults UK users to “teen” mode—filtering sensitive content—until they verify adulthood, but without the controversial partner.
No child’s play
Persona sits at the controversy’s core, a Peter Thiel-backed firm promising privacy-focused biometrics or docs for age gates. It powers checks for outfits like Roblox too, but users fear it hoovers up more data than promised, feeding potential facial recognition troves. CEO Rick Song pushed back, saying Discord test data vanished instantly after use. Yet the episode underscores broader headaches: self-verification flops, third parties invite distrust, and handing selfies or passports to apps feels like a raw deal.
Regulators keep the pressure on. The ICO probes others like TikTok alongside Reddit, while Ofcom enforces the OSA’s child safety mandates. Voices rise to shift burden to app stores—make Apple and Google verify once, then gate downloads by age. Some US states already do this, sparing users endless uploads. Platforms counter that privacy-first design clashes with demands for ironclad proof.
Broader online safety push
The Online Safety Act, live since mid-2025, forces big sites to estimate ages upfront and block porn or violence for kids. Failures risk multimillion fines, as Reddit learned. Discord’s global rollout looms, defaulting everyone to teen filters unless proven older—via machine learning on account data first, escalating to scans only if needed. Experts warn no system is foolproof: determined teens dodge checks, while adults gripe over hoops.
Weighing user protection
Age gates aim to curb grooming and explicit exposure, but execution trips over privacy fears. Reddit vows tweaks; Discord eyes alternatives. For everyday users, it means more prompts to prove you’re grown—potentially once per platform. App store oversight could streamline this, trading developer freedom for smoother sails. Until then, expect fines, fixes, and fights as the UK leads a global crackdown.
Key implications for platforms
This double whammy signals regulators mean business. Reddit’s appeal tests legal limits; Discord’s pivot shows user uproar packs punch. Smaller sites watch warily, while Big Tech debates centralized verification. Kids gain shields, but at what data cost?
Expect more scrutiny on verification tech. Platforms scout biometrics sans storage or AI guesses from behavior. Users demand transparency—no shadowy database dives. The goal holds: keep harm from kids without turning the web into an ID checkpoint.
Persona processes verifications without platforms retaining full identities, yet vulnerabilities abound: researchers bypass checks easily, and a past breach leaked 70,000 IDs. CEO Rick Song insists on instant data wipes post-scan, but damage lingers amid eroding trust. Reddit contests the penalty, stressing its aversion to data collection, and now requires UK users to affirm adult status via birth dates and third-party nods for mature content.
Expect calls to rope in app stores like Apple and Google for enforcement, mirroring some US states. As the Act eyes AI chats and feeds next, platforms innovate privacy-preserving tools to dodge penalties while shielding youth.
Tighter rules reshape how Reddit and Discord operate, blending tech with compliance to protect users without overreach. Watch for refined systems that prioritize anonymity yet meet legal demands.
