Reddit Hit With Record £14.47M ICO Fine for Child Privacy Violations

UK’s ICO fined Reddit £14.47 million on February 24, 2026 for processing under-13 personal data without age verification. Platform lacked controls despite terms prohibiting child use until July 2025. Largest children’s privacy penalty signals aggressive UK enforcement. 

ICO found Reddit processed child data without lawful basis under UK GDPR. No Data Protection Impact Assessment conducted before January 2025 despite known teen usage. Self-declared age insufficient protection leaving children exposed to harmful content.

121 million daily users spanned thousands of unmoderated communities. Children accessed adult content without barriers for extended period. ICO Commissioner John Edwards called self-declaration inadequate warning broader platform scrutiny.

July 2025 measures added age prompts and mature content gates. ICO monitoring continues citing bypass vulnerabilities. Reddit plans appeal claiming fine demands excessive user data collection.

Penalty surpasses February 5, 2026 Imgur £247,590 fine that forced UK market exit. 17 platforms under investigation including Discord, Pinterest, X. Meta and Snapchat face location data probes protecting 3M+ children industry-wide.

Fine calculation weighed child exposure duration, harm potential, and Reddit turnover. Age Appropriate Design Code enforcement accelerates across social platforms. Self-certification faces regulatory extinction.

Penalty Context Table

ICO Enforcement Actions

• 17 platforms actively investigated
• Discord, Pinterest, X in scope
• Meta/Snapchat location data probes
• 3M+ children protected since Oct 2025
• Children’s Code violations prioritized

Tech firms face mandatory DPIA requirements immediately. Age assurance technology deployment accelerates across sectors. UK leads global child privacy regulation enforcement.

Platform Requirements

• Mandatory age verification beyond self-declaration
• DPIA before processing child data
• Content restrictions by default
• Parental control integration
• Harm assessment documentation
• Ongoing ICO monitoring compliance

Social platforms implement third-party age estimation rapidly. Facial analysis, behavioral signals supplement verification. Regulatory pressure reshapes global privacy standards.

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