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UK fines Reddit $19 million for using children’s data unlawfully (ico.org.uk)

submitted 2 months ago by Beep@lemmus.org to c/technology@lemmy.world

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[-] lyralycan@sh.itjust.works 141 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

As much as I hate Reddit this is just continuation of the UK government steamrolling and destroying the free Internet, ruining the adult experience.

One of the wonders of the Internet was that it was wildly unregulated - if you wanted it and you could disable safesearch you could get it, with the caveat of ISP-enforced content locks on all mobile data subscriptions under the name of a legal child (under 18), workplace and school security and filters, unremovable Safesearch on most search engines etc. Broadband required an adult, who in turn could activate parental controls. I couldnt wait until I turned 18 so I could finally access many sites for porn, news, gaming, forums and anything containing keywords without being blocked. I had a list of proxies for bypassing school filters.

In short there is significant existing protection in place and we know that this is simply more evidence of Orwellian enforcement.

[-] a_non_monotonic_function@lemmy.world 10 points 2 months ago

The unregulated internet had literal child porn sites that were available to anyone.

I don't disagree with some of your points but the "wild West" internet shouldn't exist in society.

[-] 87Six@lemmy.zip 20 points 2 months ago

And how the fuck, exactly, are their new laws preventing CP sites from existing?

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[-] lyralycan@sh.itjust.works 14 points 2 months ago

Well yes, the more CSAM detection and predator hunting, the better. Task forces and, dare I say it, detection programs with algorithms that may or may not include AI learning, are invaluable to eliminating the actually terrible stuff, anything that can't even be educational.

I believe the Online Safety Act and Chat Control's sections that tie every user's real identity to their online actions is not a solution, because when that data gets leaked and/or abused many innocent lives are in danger. I trust the state very little. I trust unidentified malicious hackers even less.

[-] IsoKiero@sopuli.xyz 5 points 2 months ago

Leaked data doesn't even need to be dangerous to life. I, like many others, don't have "nothing to hide", but I don't still want my real name next to a list of content I've watched from streaming sites. Also I don't really want my identity tied to this pseudonym, or any other accounts on any platform. There's a crapload of problems and it would be a heaven for scammers if there was no way to stay at least relatively anonymous around the net.

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[-] abbiistabbii@piefed.blahaj.zone 75 points 2 months ago

Oh I'm sorry, which government demanded age checks which made kids give away their data to check their ages? Oh yeah.

[-] Canconda@lemmy.ca 64 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

/u/Spez (creator of /r/jailbait) should be in the car next to Andrew and on the gallows next to Trumpstein.

[-] blackn1ght@feddit.uk 31 points 2 months ago

I'm not defending the guy but wasn't it that a mod of that subreddit added him as a mod as a joke? I don't think spez created it.

[-] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 7 points 2 months ago

I believe op unless you have proof.

[-] blackn1ght@feddit.uk 24 points 2 months ago

It was always the version of events that I've read.

I just did a quick search and found this, a video claiming that he was a mod, but the majority of comments indicate it's not true and that it was debunked.

[-] pelespirit@sh.itjust.works 9 points 2 months ago

Spez actually owns site where majority of comments stick up for said owner? Sorry man, that ain't proof. Wtf are you sticking up for spez anyway? I don't know anyone sane that would.

[-] Zagorath@aussie.zone 26 points 2 months ago

He was a mod for a while, but not the top mod. Top mod is the creator, unless the creator quits, passing it off to second mod. And he was mod at a time when anyone could be added as a mod without their consent. No need to accept an invite.

It's bad enough that he was happy to let the subreddit exist for as long as it did even after significant on-site pressure to remove it. The same thing he did half a decade later with the_Donald. The fact that it took mainstream media criticism to be willing to take it down should be scathing enough. We don't need to make up bs.

[-] Test_Tickles@lemmy.world 4 points 2 months ago

Hoffman was a founder of Reddit, he was a part of the very creation of the site. He also had absolute and unlimited access to every bit of data that reddit ever had or created. He was also well known for editing other people's comments for his own amusement and narcissism. He not only could have easily been the creator, but he could have been the very mod who made his other account "a mod as a joke". He definitely could have removed himself as a mod of jb just as easily as any of the other well known edits he did to Reddit. And he definitely had direct and unfettered access to every single photo that was ever uploaded or linked to Reddit, even the ones that were so illegal that even the jailbait mods took them down.
So, the other guys opinion that Hoffman was the head pedo and creator of jailbait is just as valid and verifiable as your opinion that it was a joke that he nothing to do with it.

[-] Zagorath@aussie.zone 6 points 2 months ago

Hoffman was the head pedo and creator of jailbait is just as valid

No, it is not.

your opinion that it was a joke that he nothing to do with it

Not the opinion I expressed.

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[-] blackn1ght@feddit.uk 16 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Well where's the proof that he created it? I'll happily stand corrected.

I just think that if we're going to attack someone, it's probably a good idea to use facts that are true and not made up (it's likely that op just misremembered the details) otherwise it just puts doubt on any further valid points. I've no interest in defending the guy but I do think we should try and keep our facts straight when we criticise someone.

[-] mannycalavera@feddit.uk 8 points 2 months ago

I just think that if we're going to attack someone, it's probably a good idea to use facts that are true and not made up

Err .. sir. Do you understand how the internet works? "Facts"? "Truth"? "Not made up"? These are not things a shit poster craves.

[-] mmmac@lemmy.zip 3 points 2 months ago

The burden of proof is on the accusor

[-] Zak@lemmy.world 21 points 2 months ago

It was created by Violentacrez, not spez.

Prior to late 2012, it was possible to make someone a moderator of a subreddit without their consent, which was sometimes done as a joke or harassment. That's why spez was briefly a moderator of r/jailbait.

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[-] FinjaminPoach@lemmy.world 11 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

/u/Spez (creator of /r/jailbait)

oh 🫣 I've probably heard that before but I must not have committed it to memory

Well that explains why Reddit was so ridiculously pro-porn and porn-riddled in general.

[-] Zagorath@aussie.zone 21 points 2 months ago

That's cos it's not true. He was a mod of it for a while, but I've not seen any verification of how long that was, and it was at a time when you could just add someone as a mod without them needing to approve it. But he was definitely not its founder.

He did allow it to stick around until the mainstream media started kicking up a fuss about it. That would be bad enough. We don't need to make shit up.

[-] taiyang@lemmy.world 8 points 2 months ago

Ironically, Huffman doesn't seem to be in the Epstein files. This isn't because he isn't a pedophile-- he very likely is-- but he simply wasn't important enough of a person for them to invite him or even talk about him.

[-] Canconda@lemmy.ca 11 points 2 months ago

4chan had approximately 10x the users as reddit did in 2011 when Epstein and Poole connected.

But ya fuck u/spez. Even the biggest losers on earth hate u/spez

[-] SirMaple__@lemmy.ca 44 points 2 months ago

[-] Tja@programming.dev 4 points 2 months ago

Because of content. I still can't find woodworking, amarthome, soccer or F1 content or lemmy, just to name a few. I lurk in incognito mode on reddit for that, so the ads don't have any data about me.

[-] julysfire@lemmy.world 34 points 2 months ago

Cost of doing business to them. Make fines actually hurt and then maybe something will change.

[-] BennyTheExplorer@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago

Or just prosecute them criminally, like they do with the pesants

[-] Sunshine@lemmy.ca 30 points 2 months ago

Garbage fine by tyrannical government trying to police what you do online. Stop age verification!

[-] toiletobserver@lemmy.world 28 points 2 months ago

[-] SleepyPie@lemmy.world 26 points 2 months ago

A silly noble once said,

“If the penalty for a crime is a fine, then that law only exists for the lower class.”

Business criminals need to be barred from business, and criminal profits returned to the public.

[-] bigkahuna1986@lemmy.ml 25 points 2 months ago

This will surely stop reddit in it's tracks!

[-] Sunshine@lemmy.ca 21 points 2 months ago

Cheering on websites getting fined for the reason of internet censorship. I know Spez is a prick but I don’t want the UK cracking down on internet privacy.

We must protest against the labour party’s corruption.

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[-] GreenTara@lemmy.world 19 points 2 months ago

Really waiting for the mass exodus from reddit. It seems like it's gotten pretty shitty over there the past year or so.

[-] Mwa@thelemmy.club 4 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

aswell as Youtube,Discord and Twitch

[-] nukeforyou@lemmy.zip 4 points 2 months ago

it kinda sucks tho that all my google searches for tech support I have to put site:reddit.com at the end because the rest of the web is shit for support

[-] mjr@infosec.pub 11 points 2 months ago

This seems like one of those cases where you wish both sides could lose. Reddit are up to no good, but lack of identity document demands isn't it.

[-] db2@lemmy.world 9 points 2 months ago

Not enough. Not nearly.

[-] Sunshine@lemmy.ca 15 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

The article says Reddit isn’t protecting the privacy of children while contradicting itself by saying it needs age verification for this…. in reality this leads to user profiling and data breaches.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/02/discord-faces-backlash-over-age-checks-after-data-breach-exposed-70000-ids/

https://techlore.tech/the-free-speech-grift-how-politicians-tricked-you-into-demanding-surveillance/

[-] chaotic_ugly@lemmy.zip 8 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Spez is such a colossal Zuckerberg-wannabe piece of shit. I don't think any site has fallen farther than Reddit has. What a waste.

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[-] MedicPigBabySaver@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago

Fuck Reddit and Fuck Spez.

[-] vogi@piefed.social 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

The headline is a bit misleading is it not? There is no evidence of children's data being used unlawfully. (I mean there might I don't know what counts as "unlawful") This is just a fine for Reddit not to follow UKs dystopian ideas in time.

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[-] Didntdoit71@feddit.online 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Good. Bury reddit for protecting the pedophiles in the name of corporate greed.

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this post was submitted on 24 Feb 2026

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