The UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) imposed a £14.47 million fine on Reddit, Inc. on February 24 2026 for failing to protect children’s personal data and for lacking robust age‑verification safeguards. The penalty, the largest ever levied by the ICO for a children‑privacy violation, reflects the regulator’s intensified focus on safeguarding minors online.
ICO’s investigation found that Reddit had no robust age‑assurance mechanism and therefore had no lawful basis to process the personal information of users under 13. The regulator also noted that Reddit had not conducted a data‑protection impact assessment (DPIA) before January 2025, a requirement under the UK GDPR and the Online Safety Act. While Reddit introduced age‑assurance measures in July 2025—requiring age verification for mature content and allowing self‑declaration for new accounts—the ICO highlighted that self‑declaration is vulnerable to circumvention and does not meet the regulator’s standards for reliable age verification.
The fine comes amid a broader ICO campaign that includes investigations of Discord, Pinterest, X, Meta and Snapchat for similar children‑data concerns, and follows a comparable penalty imposed on Imgur. The ICO’s Children’s Code strategy, updated in December 2025, aims to tighten enforcement of age‑verification and DPIA requirements across social platforms. Reddit’s decision to appeal the fine underscores the company’s intent to challenge the regulator’s assessment while it works to strengthen its compliance framework.
The £14.47 million penalty signals heightened regulatory scrutiny that could affect Reddit’s ability to monetize user data and attract advertisers wary of compliance risks. The fine also raises the prospect of additional compliance costs and reputational damage, potentially influencing user trust and future regulatory actions. As the largest fine for children’s privacy to date, the case sets a precedent for how the ICO will enforce data‑protection obligations on social media platforms.
The incident highlights the growing importance of robust age‑verification and DPIA processes for platforms that host user‑generated content. It also illustrates the regulatory environment’s shift toward stricter enforcement of children’s data protection, a trend that will likely shape the operational and strategic decisions of social media companies worldwide.
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