"Children under 13 had their personal information collected and used in ways they could not understand, consent to or control," said John Edwards, UK Information Commissioner.

Reddit has been fined more than £14 million (€16 million) by the UK’s information watchdog, accusing the social media giant of failing to protect children and leaving them vulnerable to “inappropriate and harmful content”.

Following an investigation, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) found that the American company neglected to implement robust age-verification tools. Reddit told Euronews Next that it intends to appeal the decision.

Instead, Reddit relied heavily on “self-declaration”—allowing users to simply state their age without further proof—a method the watchdog deems insufficient for protecting children.