Reddit has announced it is introducing age verification on its UK site from Monday to stop people aged under 18 from looking at “certain mature content”.
The social media platform is bringing in the measures to comply with new rules under the UK’s Online Safety Act which require sites that show adult material to introduce “robust” age checking techniques.
Reddit, known for its online communities and discussions, said that while it does not want to know who its audience is: “It would be helpful for our safety efforts to be able to confirm whether you are a child or an adult.”
Ofcom, the UK regulator, said: “We expect other companies to follow suit, or face enforcement if they fail to act.”
Reddit said that from 14 July, an outside firm called Persona will perform age verification for the social media platform either through an uploaded selfie or “a photo of your government ID”, such as a passport.
It said Reddit will not have access to the photo and will only retain a user’s verification status and date of birth so people do not have to re-enter it each time they try to access restricted content.
Reddit added that Persona “promises not to retain the picture for longer than seven days” and will not have access to a user’s data on the site.
The new rules in the UK come into force on 25 July.
A spokesperson for Ofcom said: “Society has long protected youngsters from products that aren’t suitable for them, from alcohol to smoking or gambling.
“Now, children will be better protected from online material that’s not appropriate for them, while adults’ rights to access legal content are preserved.”
But Scott Babwah Brennen, director of the Center on Technology Policy at New York University, said: “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.”
David Greene, civil liberties director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the UK’s Online Safety Act was a “real tragedy”.
“UK users can no longer use the internet without having to provide their papers, as it were,” he said, adding that he was disappointed websites like Reddit were not legally challenging the law.
Pornhub and a number of other major adult websites recently confirmed they would introduce enhanced age checks in time for the new rules.
Pornhub’s parent company, Aylo, said it would bring in “government approved age assurance methods” but is yet to reveal how it will require users to prove they are over 18.
Ofcom has previously said simply clicking a button, which is all the adult site currently requires, is not enough.
Companies that fail to meet the rules face fines of up to £18m or 10% of worldwide revenue, “whichever is greater”.
It added that in the most serious cases, it can seek a court order for “business disruption measures”, such as requiring payment providers or advertisers to withdraw their services from a platform, or requiring Internet Service Providers to block access to a site in the UK.”
