Reddit requires login for non-U.S. visitors

Reddit will soon require visitors in several countries outside the United States to log in before reading most discussions, according to a message from CEO Steve Huffman posted on the platform during the company's quarterly results presentation.

Change aims to reduce bot activity

Huffman described the change as a "big change" for someone whose life has been shaped by the open internet, but also as the right decision for Reddit and its business. The company aims to slow down AI bots that scrape its discussions and has noted a decline in visitors from Google, with most of its revenue coming from logged-in members.

Most users currently browse anonymously

Currently, six out of ten daily visitors access Reddit without an account. In the second quarter, 77.7 million of the 130.3 million daily visitors browsed without logging in, according to figures provided to the U.S. securities regulator. Huffman stated that the "majority" of unauthorized access, including scraping and data theft, occurs through this anonymous browsing.

Old Reddit and API access will be restricted

Reddit has already disabled access without an account to Old Reddit, its old interface, and will disable its RSS feeds on November 13. Public access to its API will be closed by March 2027. Google and OpenAI currently pay to use these discussions, and Reddit will continue to sell licenses to other companies with safeguards, according to Huffman.

Legal action against data scrapers

In October 2025, the company filed a lawsuit in New York against Perplexity and three data collection companies, including SerpApi, alleging they scraped its discussions from Google's search result pages. Perplexity disputes these allegations. The test will begin outside the United States, in countries yet to be identified, and France could therefore be affected.

Homepage and links remain accessible

The homepage will remain accessible without an account, and Reddit aims to allow visitors arriving via a shared link or search engine to see the content of the link. Huffman responded to concerns about users encountering login screens while searching for technical solutions by stating that these passing visitors were not the priority and that testing was needed to "find the right balance."

Private browsing mode available in app

Users who value anonymity can use a "truly private" private browsing mode, rebuilt by Reddit, but only in the app. In October, Reddit lost an average of more than a million weekly visits from search engines, according to Huffman's letter to shareholders. He attributes this decline to AI-generated responses from Google, which eliminate the need for internet users to click through to sites, according to a Reuters report picked up by Boursorama.

Revenue up but user numbers down

He warned that the number of daily visitors could decline by a low single-digit or double-digit percentage in the fourth quarter, compared to about 130 million, and Reddit stock lost 18% in extended trading after this warning. In the third quarter, the company generated $895 million in revenue, up 53% year-on-year, but its U.S. daily visitors declined by 2%.

Personalization drives monetization

Huffman wrote that Reddit has become so large that without a minimum of personalization, it loses all interest, and that logged-in members and app users account for more than 80% of the site's monetization. He stated that Reddit does not need to know the name or real identity of its members, as the company personalizes its ads based on the communities they frequent. These interest data are also shared with advertising partners, unless the user declines in their settings.

User reaction mixed

Luke Stillman from the Madison and Wall research firm, cited by Reuters, noted that this mandatory login will be another obstacle for occasional visitors. Regular users have not appreciated the announcement, with about 200 comments left under Huffman's message on the evening of October 29, with a vote score of zero, according to Gizmodo.