Reddit has announced that it will begin verifying user ages in the U.K. before enabling access to restricted subreddits, in line with evolving U.K. laws, which could also expand to other regions.
In the U.K., the new Online Safety Act requires that all platforms implement measures to prevent children from accessing age-inappropriate content. As a result, beginning this week, Reddit says that it will begin verifying user ages, via third-party platform Persona, to abide by these new regulations.
As explained by Reddit:
“Reddit was built on the principle that you shouldn’t need to share personal information to participate in meaningful discussions. Unlike platforms that are identity-based and cater to the famous (or those that want to become famous), Reddit has always favored upvoting great posts and comments by people who use whimsical usernames and not their real name. These conversations are often more candid and real than those that force you to share your real-world identity. However, while we still don’t want to know who you are on Reddit, there are certainly situations where it would be helpful if we knew a little more about you.”
For example, whether you’re actually a human being.
Reddit recently found itself in the firing line after it was revealed that researchers had unleashed a swarm of AI bots into the r/changemyview subreddit, in order to test whether AI bots were better at swaying people’s opinions than actual humans (note: they are).
Which produced some interesting findings, but Reddit users were less-than-enthused about being manipulated by AI bots, without any knowledge or note about those interactions.
Reddit has since been working on various solutions to address this, with identity checks, via a third party, now viewed as another option to assure people of humanity.
Though age checking is the main focus, while Reddit also notes that the U.K. is not alone on this front, with a growing number of jurisdictions now developing laws that will require platforms to verify the ages of their users.
As such, this is likely an inevitable, broader shift either way, and Reddit’s just getting ahead of it, and killing two birds with one stone, with all users, in all regions, set to potentially be subject to the same.
“We’ve tried to do this in a way that protects the privacy of UK redditors. To verify your age, we partner with a trusted third-party provider (Persona) who performs the verification on either an uploaded selfie or a photo of your government ID. Reddit will not have access to the uploaded photo, and Reddit will only store your verification status along with the birthdate you provided so you won’t have to re-enter it each time you try to access restricted content. Persona promises not to retain the photo for longer than 7 days and will not have access to your Reddit data such as the subreddits you visit.”
Your birthdate also won’t be visible to other users or advertisers, and will only be used to support safety features and age-appropriate experiences on Reddit.
Video age-checking has emerged as the most accurate and workable solution for age verification, with the Australian government also testing the same to align with its coming age restrictions on social media use.
Though Reddit has also reportedly explored the use of eye-scanning to detect user identity.
That could be a more viable option in future, but right now, Reddit’s going with video selfie checks to ensure it aligns with local requirements.
Which will be criticized by Redditors, but again, could be an inevitable change either way.
Though it is interesting to see Reddit go from the app that exposed thousands of celebrity nudes, to the first platform to implement more thorough age checks.
