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As of this summer, Reddit is asking users in the U.K., the European Union, Australia, and Brazil to prove how old they are with a selfie or ID check before they can see certain content or keep their account at all.[1]
The push comes months after U.K. regulators fined Reddit £14.47 million (about $19 million) for letting children slip through weak age checks for years.[2]
Reddit says it doesn't want to know who you are, only how old you are. But four countries now require some form of proof, and a pending U.S. bill suggests a fifth may not be far behind.
Here’s how to bypass the Reddit age verification checks to keep your identifiable data safe.
Since Reddit's checks currently roll out by jurisdiction, connecting to a server in a country without the requirement, before you're prompted, may avoid triggering the check in the first place.
As of writing, these checks are currently only live in the following locations:
Connecting to any other location, such as Switzerland, should allow you to browse any subreddit without giving up your personal data.
You can change your digital location by connecting to a VPN. Choose a reputable option that has verified no-log policies, which means it won’t track anything you’re doing and can’t give information to your country. We recommend NordVPN because it has passed independent audits of its no-log policies six times over.
Our #1 rated VPN, which has increased download speeds by up to 36% across all regions in our testing
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Reddit's own help center now describes age verification as a response to "new global laws," not a limited trial.
The clearest catalyst was the U.K.'s Information Commissioner's Office, which fined Reddit £14.47 million in February 2026 after finding the company relied on self-declared birthdates to keep children under 13 off the platform between 2018 and 2025. Reddit is appealing.
Three other jurisdictions locked in requirements around the same time:
Reddit verifies age through a few methods depending on region and device: an age range from your Apple or Google account, or a selfie/government ID submitted through Persona.
Reddit says it never receives or stores the photo itself — only a confirmed age and status — and that Persona deletes the submitted information after three days.
That's a meaningfully different setup than uploading an ID directly to Reddit's servers, but it still means a third party you didn't choose briefly holds a photo of your face or ID.
Skepticism tracks with that: in All About Cookies' own survey about age verification, 79% of Americans were concerned about privacy and data security, and 66% worried about risk of ID theft or scams.
Yes, as long as the restrictions remain tied to user locations.
VPNs work well against checks tied purely to your IP address or region. This means you can connect to a server where the requirement doesn't apply, and a geoblock-style check won't trigger. 51% of people who've encountered age verification say they've tried to get around it, with VPNs among the most common methods.
Reddit's system isn't purely regional, though. By its own description, it also factors in device and account history, similar to how Discord's global, account-level verification worked before they reversed the changes. These types of restrictions can’t be overridden by a VPN once it's tied to your account.
Reddit's age verification is no longer confined to one region or one law. The U.K., the EU, Australia, and Brazil each now require proof beyond a self-reported birthday, and Reddit is complying in every one of them, even while fighting the Australian version in court.
If you use Reddit and haven't seen a prompt yet, that's likely timing, not geography. Check your account's privacy settings now, and consider a VPN with a real no-log policy as a way to bypass age verification.
Not necessarily. Reddit says it offers device-based age-range sharing (through your Apple or Google account) as an alternative to a selfie or ID upload where available. The restrictions are also only for certain regions as of writing.
Not yet, but it's plausible. The federal SAFE for Kids Act and 25+ state-level laws already in effect suggest U.S. rollout could follow the pattern seen in the U.K., EU, Australia, and Brazil.
It depends on why you're being prompted. If it's location-triggered, a VPN connected before the prompt may help. If Reddit has already tied the check to your account or device, a VPN alone likely won't remove it.
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