A MAJOR social media app used by millions of Brits daily is introducing new age verification checks due to a new UK law.
The Online Safety Act forces social media sites with access to adult content to verify the age of users from July 24.
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Platforms that fall foul of the new law risk being slapped with hefty fines and could even be banned from the UK.
A number of popular porn sites including PornHub have already confirmed they will introduce new verification checks to comply with the overhaul.
And now Reddit has revealed it too is making changes, coming into effect immediately.
“We have tried to do this in a way that protects the privacy of UK redditors,” the tech firm said.
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Going forward, users will need to submit a selfie or a photo of your government ID to gain access to adult subreddit pages.
Reddit is using a third-party provider called Persona to do the checks and says the company “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“.
Regulator Ofcom will be responsible for checking websites comply with the new rules.
“Society has long protected youngsters from products that aren’t suitable for them, from alcohol to smoking or gambling,” said Oliver Griffiths, Ofcom Group Director of Online Safety.
“But for too long children have been only a click away from harmful pornography online.
“Now, change is happening. These age checks will bring pornography into line with how we treat adult services in the real world, without compromising access and privacy for over-18s.”
