Reddit will now require human verification for suspected bot accounts
What's the story
Reddit has announced a new "human verification" requirement for accounts suspected of being bots. The move comes as part of the platform's efforts to tackle the growing problem of automated accounts. However, Reddit has clarified that this won't be a site-wide verification process, but rather an action taken when something indicates that an account isn't human.
Bot detection
How Reddit will verify if an account is human
To identify potential bots, Reddit is deploying specialized tools that analyze account-level signals and other factors. These include how quickly an account tries to write or post content. If an account fails the verification test, it may be restricted by Reddit. The platform will use third-party tools like passkeys from Apple, Google, YubiKey, and biometric services such as Face ID to verify if an account is human.
Privacy concerns
Verification process will be privacy-first, assures Huffman
Reddit co-founder and CEO Steve Huffman has assured users that the platform will take a privacy-first approach while verifying accounts. He said, "Our aim is to confirm there is a person behind the account, not who that person is." The changes are part of Reddit's strategy to combat bots on social platforms and the web at large.
Bot prevalence
Bots on Reddit
Reddit has become a hotspot for bots trying to manipulate narratives, promote companies or products, repost links, post spam, drive traffic, conduct research, and more. The platform also suspects that bots may be posting questions on the site to generate more training data in areas where AI is lacking information. This is particularly true given Reddit's content is used for AI training due to lucrative deals with AI model providers.
Internet theory
Ohanian's take on 'dead internet theory'
Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian has also spoken about the "dead internet theory," which suggests that bots outnumber humans online. This is especially true in the age of AI agents. The platform had announced last year that it would start requiring human verification to combat the growing number of bots and meet "evolving regulatory requirements." However, Huffman recently said these solutions aren't ideal and hinted at decentralized, individualized, private solutions as long-term answers.