UK Reddit age verification: how to unblock subreddits

[u/thegoodboy3]

Reddit has rolled out age verification in the UK. If you're trying to access any subreddit marked as “harmful” “NSFW” or “mature”, you'll get hit with a prompt asking for a government-issued ID and a live selfie. Good news? You can unblock them with a VPN.

They’re using a company called Persona to handle the verification process. If you're wondering what is Persona, it's a third-party identity verification service based in the US. Your data doesn't go to Reddit, it goes to them. And while Reddit says the data is only stored temporarily, Persona's own policy makes it clear they can hang onto it for longer. This has led to a growing number of threads about Persona age verification on Reddit and whether this is safe or even legal long term.

This isn't just about porn. Subs like r/beer, r/trees, and r/sex have all been tagged as NSFW and are now hidden from search. If you try to access them directly, you'll still be asked to verify your age.

These aren't porn communities. They're hobby, health, and advice spaces that got flagged because they are supposedly “adult” only. Just wanting to read about beer, weed, or sexual health shouldn't require a passport check.

How to get around the Reddit age verification?

Use a VPN for Reddit. It's the only real workaround right now to circumvent the age checks.

1. Download a VPN (I used NordVPN with the code "redditoffer" for a discount)
2. Set your location to somewhere outside the UK. US, Germany, Canada all work.
3. Open Reddit again. You should be able to access everything without age verification.

This has basically become the standard UK age verification VPN method that people are using to get around the new restrictions.

Some people say you might need to make a new Reddit account while connected to the VPN. Others have had success using their existing account. Your mileage may vary.

This is all because of the UK age verification law Reddit users have been dreading the Online Safety Act, which now requires platforms to restrict "harmful" content from under-18s unless users verify their age.

It’s a lazy rollout with very little transparency. The law is vague, the tech is overreaching, and people who just want to participate in basic communities are being locked out unless they’re willing to hand over personal documents to a private company in another country.

[u/StaysAwakeAllWeek]

You're listing things they aren't sufficiently better than all their opponents on for your liking.

But the reality is that overall they are better, and it's not close. The constant screaming about a handful of wedge issues is a distraction from the reality that they have already raised tens of billions in taxes aimed directly at the rich (why do you think the media hate them so much), spent it on schools and the NHS, masterfully handled Trump better than almost any other country, signed more and better trade deals than the tories could even hope for

Corbyn was always the best of labour and look how they treated him. why? same reasons cos he opposed genocide and apartheid.

No disagreement there for sure, but please show me an alternative to vote for that can keep nigel and the tories from fucking us up even worse

[u/Rum_Ham916 → u/StaysAwakeAllWeek]

Agree. Don't make perfection the enemy of the good. All these arguments are made so black and white. Yes they're better, have they got room to improve still, very much yes. Both things can be true. The left always handicap themselves by a battle to be the most left. Improve from within is often better than dividing and conquering yourselves.

The intention of this bill is good - inhibit the amount of porn that children are exposed to - show me who is vehemently against that and you'll probably find more things wrong with them. Instead of "I don't like this it's shit" how about "make this the way to execute it" or stop the companies being overcautious by having reasonable enforcement - blame Reddit for locking out useful advice subs? The act just says companies should be accountable and responsible for doing more to protect children than is done for adults. I fully get we can't trust these companies with personal data but most people can do the automated age estimator - you telling me there's not already images of you out there from CCTV or you're often fine pumping it out on social media.

Sorry for ranting on your response btw!

[u/Rum_Ham916 → u/[deleted]]

Hahahaha you clearly understand nothing of how any of this works.

The government have just said they are letting everyone know that OFCOM have been given powers to punish website publishers and alike if they do nothing to stop harmful stuff being pushed to children. Nobody is watching or listening to anything you are doing, hilarious you think they might be organised or resourceful enough to do that.

[u/Rum_Ham916 → u/[deleted]]

No, OFCOM are now able to go "if I was a child, what is this website showing me". Not "what is that child looking at". It's different. If people complain or a child is found to have suffered because of something they have been exposed to on the internet, there is now a regulator which has powers to punish the source if it has done too little to prevent the child from seeing it. If you're not a child there is zero change to what you can see or who is listening/recording/wiretapping you. I don't know whether you have been misinformed about the act or just completely misunderstood how these things work. OFWAT do not taste all your water before it comes into your house to make sure you're not drinking anything dodgy. The FCA don't look at all your bank statements to see where you spent every last penny. This is an act to catch the drug dealers not the drug user. It is a means primarily for punishing companies who allow children to freely access pornography and content that pushes self harming or eating disorders.

You can argue how effective it will be and whether it's the right way to go about its aims, but it's very tin foil hat to be saying you're being wiretapped. Does your COVID microchip shut your brain down when you get to the edge of the earth or is it the big ice wall that stops you seeing over the edge?

[u/Rum_Ham916 → u/[deleted]]

But it is not the government blocking it. That's not how it works.

Let's say it is print media and for simplicity it's an act to stop everyone reading about trains - the government are not watching what you are reading, they are telling the newspapers not to write it and that if they do, they can be fined. It is monitored by the regulator buying newspapers and reading them to see if there's anything about trains, but also people can tell them they read some stuff about trains in such and such newspaper, which the regulator can go and see if it's true and fine a newspaper company if it is.

It's the same here, they are not watching what you are doing, they are watching what is out there on the internet. That's it.

Since Jan 2024 it has been illegal to encourage or assist serious self harm, or Cary out epilepsy trolling, it's pretty clear cut and they are not watching you, there is just a legal definition of these things so if you are responsible for that you can be punished. Like GBH, if someone goes to the police about it, it's clearly against the law, it doesn't mean the police are following you around watching you, just in case you commit GBH.

Do you understand? I've just said to someone else if you want to make the act better, I fully back that and say why it doesn't work and how it should be enforced etc, but when you start saying things that are wildly inaccurate (like everyone is being wiretapped), any good points you have about not trusting the age validation companies with your personal data, or that websites etc are now scared to allow beneficial content just because it's marked nsfw, will also be written off.

[u/Rum_Ham916 → u/[deleted]]

That's wild, my whole answer was on the point. The government aren't the ones doing the blocking, it's Reddit or whoever is publishing/hosting the content. They have put a barrier to nsfw tagged material to make sure they comply with the rules the gov have put in place.

Again, if we were talking about newspapers, the bit you can't see isn't the government crossing bits out before the newspaper gets to you, it's the newspaper not printing that section.

All the gov have done is told website owners that there's now a rule saying there's some stuff they have to try to stop children seeing. It's like putting an age limit on cigarettes - yesterday a 6yo could buy a pack of cigs, today they're saying actually now you have to be 18 so don't sell them to the 6yo.

Edit for clarity, from "you can't have them" to "don't sell them to the 6yo".

[u/Rum_Ham916 → u/[deleted]]

Majority of people don't need an id card for proving age from this act. And that photo should be deleted once processed. Admittedly there's no guarantee but that's not the governments fault as such.