United Kingdom: Information Commissioner’s Office fined MediaLab GBP 247'590 for children’s privacy failures on Imgur

On 5 February 2026, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) fined MediaLab.AI, owner of the image sharing and hosting platform Imgur, GBP 247'590 for failing to use children’s personal information lawfully under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The ICO found that MediaLab allowed children to use Imgur without checking users’ ages, processed the personal information of children under 13 without parental consent or another lawful basis, and did not carry out a data protection impact assessment to identify and reduce risks to children. These failures meant MediaLab could not know which users were children and did not put basic protections in place. The ICO set the fine taking into account the length of the breaches, the number of children affected, the risk of harm, MediaLab’s global turnover, and MediaLab’s acceptance of provisional findings issued in a Notice of Intent in September 2025, and stated that further regulatory action may follow if committed measures are not implemented.