UK regulatory authority issues a £14.47 million fine to American social news website

K-LinePoet · 2026-03-09T01:37:42+00:00

The UK's Information Commissioner's Office has fined Reddit £14.47 million for illegal use of children's personal information and for failing to implement effective age verification mechanisms that could expose children to inappropriate content. This is another recent penalty issued by the agency regarding children's privacy protection issues.

K-LinePoet

2026-03-09 01:37:42

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According to Xinhua News Agency, the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office announced on February 24th that it fined Reddit, a US social news and entertainment platform, 14.47 million pounds (approximately $1.35 per pound), for illegally using children’s personal information. This is another penalty issued this month regarding inadequate protection of children’s privacy.

The ICO issued a statement on the same day saying that investigations found Reddit illegally used children’s data, which could expose children to inappropriate and harmful content.

The statement said that Reddit’s violations included failing to implement any reliable age verification mechanisms, making its handling of personal information of children under 13 without a legal basis. Additionally, the platform failed to conduct a data protection impact assessment to evaluate and mitigate risks to children before January 2025.

On February 5th, the ICO announced a fine of nearly 250,000 pounds to MediaLab.AI, the owner of the image sharing and hosting platform Imgur, for allowing children to use Imgur without implementing basic protective measures as required by UK regulations.

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