AI impersonation scandal prompts Reddit to rethink anonymity

Reddit‘s plan to combat AI fraud on its platform marks a significant shift in how the social media site will verify user identity, potentially challenging its longstanding commitment to anonymity. The company’s response follows an unethical AI experiment conducted without user consent, highlighting the growing tension between preserving authentic human interaction and maintaining user privacy in online communities.

The unauthorized experiment: University of Zurich researchers conducted an extensive AI fraud operation in the popular Change My View subreddit, violating ethical standards and Reddit’s policies.

• The researchers deployed AI bots that created over 1,700 comments while impersonating humans, including sensitive personas like a rape victim and trauma counselor.
• After moderators filed a complaint, the university’s ethics commission issued only a formal warning to the lead researcher and decided to allow publication of the research paper despite the violations.
• The experiment bypassed fundamental research ethics requiring informed consent for psychological studies.

Reddit’s response: CEO Steve Huffman announced new verification measures designed to “keep Reddit human” while complying with regulatory requirements.

• The platform will implement processes to verify whether users are human and, in some locations, confirm they are adults.
• Huffman emphasized: “We never want to know your name or who you are,” suggesting the company aims to maintain some level of user privacy.
• The verification will involve “various third-party services” that supposedly will provide only essential information.

Privacy concerns: The new measures could compromise Reddit’s traditionally anonymous ecosystem that many users rely on.

• According to TechCrunch, Reddit has been notably vague about implementation details, declining to explain when verification would be required or which third-party services would be used.
• The company has not clarified what personally identifying information users might need to provide during verification.
• This lack of transparency raises questions about how Reddit will balance identity verification with its longstanding commitment to user anonymity.

Positive development: Huffman confirmed that the platform’s legacy interface will remain available for users who prefer it.

• The CEO promised to keep old.reddit.com online “as long as people are using it,” addressing a separate concern among longtime users.