Reddit will soon introduce stricter user verification measures designed to prevent sophisticated, AI-generated bots from infiltrating its platform. This move comes in response to a controversial experiment that drew outrage across the Reddit community last week, during which researchers released a swarm of AI-driven bots impersonating humans into the “Change My View” subreddit. The experiment involved the bots making over 1,700 comments while assuming roles including abuse survivors and controversial advocates, highlighting just how convincing AI-driven content can be.
The incident threatened Reddit’s reputation, which is deeply tied to genuine interaction among real people, potentially jeopardizing its core identity and even financial interests—Reddit currently monetizes its content by licensing it to AI companies like OpenAI for training machine learning systems.
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman publicly condemned the experiment, calling it improper and unethical, and lodged a formal complaint with the responsible researchers’ academic institution. Acknowledging the growing threats AI impersonators could pose, Huffman stated that Reddit will partner with third-party platforms to ensure users are genuinely human. Until now, Reddit has required minimal personal information to create an account, but that is set to change.
“To keep Reddit human and comply with evolving regulatory requirements, we will need a bit more information from our users,” Huffman wrote, acknowledging concerns around anonymity. “Specifically, we’ll need to confirm you are human and, in certain regions, verify that you are an adult. However, we’ll never ask for your name or seek to discover your identity.”
Reddit has not revealed detailed criteria for when users must undergo verification, nor identified which third-party services would conduct these checks. Similar human-verification solutions in the industry typically require verification through government-issued identification or biometric information provided by companies such as Persona, Plaid, Alloy, Stripe Identity, or newer innovations like eye-scanning technologies.
Privacy advocates point to significant risks inherent in sharing personal information with online social platforms. Redditors in particular value the site as a safe haven where sensitive topics can be discussed without revealing their true identity. Concerns about authorities compelling disclosure of personal data—such as law enforcement seeking user identities to investigate potential criminal activity—are prominent risks Reddit must navigate carefully.
To address these concerns, Huffman emphasized that the platform would strictly limit information collection to essential verification purposes only. He reiterated Reddit’s commitment to preserving users’ anonymity, declaring it “essential” to the platform’s core purpose. Huffman added that Reddit would continue fighting any invasive demands from public or private entities for users’ identifiable data.
