Reddit, Inc. – €16,610,000 Fine (United Kingdom, 2026)

€16,610,000Information Commissioner's Office23 February 2026United Kingdom
appealed
Fine

Reddit was fined for not having a proper cookie consent system, which allowed cookies to be placed on users' devices before they agreed. This is significant because it shows that websites must get clear consent from users before tracking them. The large fine indicates that authorities are serious about enforcing these rules.

What happened

Reddit was fined for failing to implement an adequate cookie consent procedure, allowing cookies to load before user consent was obtained.

Who was affected

Reddit users who were tracked by cookies without proper consent were affected.

What the authority found

The Information Commissioner's Office found that Reddit violated several GDPR rules regarding cookie consent and user tracking.

Why this matters

This case sets a strong precedent for cookie consent practices, urging all websites to ensure they have clear and effective consent mechanisms in place.

GDPR Articles Cited

AI-verified

Art. 8(GDPR)
Art. 35(GDPR)
Art. 5(1)(a) GDPR
Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR
View original scraped data
Art. 5(1) a) GDPR
Art. 6(1) a) GDPR
b)
f) GDPR
Art. 8(GDPR)
Art. 35(GDPR)

Original data from scraper before AI verification against source document.

Source verified 8 April 2026
verified correct
Full Legal Summary
Detailed

Reddit failed to implement an adequate cookie consent procedure, allowing non-essential cookies to load before consent and providing unclear cookie information.

Violations (4)

No Reject Button
critical

Cookie banner does not provide a clear reject/refuse all button at the same level as the accept button.

Art. 7 GDPR

Reject Harder Than Accept
critical

Refusing cookies requires more clicks or steps than accepting them, or the reject option is less visually prominent.

Art. 7 GDPR

Cookies Placed Before Consent
critical

Non-essential cookies (tracking, advertising) are placed on the user's device before obtaining valid consent.

Art. 6(1) GDPR

Unclear Cookie Information
high

The cookie banner or cookie policy provides vague, incomplete, or unclear information about what cookies are used and why.

Art. 12, 13 GDPR

Related Enforcement Actions (0)

No other enforcement actions found for Reddit, Inc. in UK

This is the only recorded action for this entity in this jurisdiction.

Details

Fine Date

23 February 2026

Authority

Information Commissioner's Office

Fine Amount

€16,610,000

Enforcement Tracker ID

ETid-3074

About this data

Data: CMS GDPR Enforcement Tracker
Licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
AI-verified and classified
Cookie relevance: 80%

Cite as: Cookie Fines. Reddit, Inc. - United Kingdom (2026). Retrieved from cookiefines.eu

Report Inaccuracy

Last updated: