What it is
Reddit is a collection of communities. Some are harmless hobbies. Others are sexual, extreme, or full of adults giving advice a child should not be taking. The app does not sort this into a children’s version.
Chat and direct messages sit beside the public posts. A helpful stranger in a game community can move the conversation private.
What to look out for
- Communities you would not want a child reading.
- Private chats with people who only know their username.
- Advice about secrets, diets, self-harm, or meeting offline.
- An account that is logged in when they said they only browse.
Ways to stay safe
These steps are for Reddit. The house rules still apply on every app.
- For younger children, browsing this app is a no.
- For teens, look at the joined communities together and leave the ones that are not appropriate.
- Turn off chat invites from people they do not know.
- Agree that “someone was nice to me on Reddit” is not a reason to share a photo, a school, or a phone number.
In the news
Published reports you can read yourself. A headline is the proof, not a set of instructions, and this page does not repeat graphic detail.
- Reddit fined £14m over child age-check failings The data watchdog said a self-declared age was easy to bypass, and that under-13s were on the site.
A way to start the conversation
You can say: "You can like a hobby without joining every community about it. If a conversation goes private, or someone asks for a photo, that is the end of it and the start of telling me."
Video
Parent briefing
A short video for this guide can be added by an editor. Until then, the written briefing above is the one to use.