Reddit has been hit with a £14.47 million fine by the UK's Information Commissioner's Office for unlawfully processing children's personal data through its age verification system. The platform used Persona, a third-party service that checks government IDs and selfies, but failed to properly verify users' ages, leaving children exposed to inappropriate content.

Discord faced a different kind of backlash when it briefly tested Persona's age verification. Users discovered the service accesses government records and publicly available data, sparking accusations that Discord had misled them about how face scans and ID uploads would be handled. The platform quickly ended the test after the controversy.

The UK's Online Safety Act requires platforms to verify user ages and protect children from harmful content. Both Reddit and Discord's experiences highlight the challenges companies face in balancing privacy concerns with regulatory compliance. Reddit argued it used Persona to avoid knowing users' identities directly, but regulators found the verification inadequate with many children incorrectly classified as adults.