• by Colin Kirkland , December 11, 2025

Reddit is officially testing its own checkmark verification process with specific accounts, including celebrities, journalists and brands. 

In a recent release, the popular social forum-based platform explained that this limited alpha test is starting with a “small, curated group of individuals” designed to help users understand who they are engaging with, “whether it’s an expert of celebrity hosting an AMA, a journalist reporting news, or a brand sharing information.”

The group of testers include individuals and businesses that have already self-identified themselves on Reddit or hold an official badge, a feature the platform began testing in 2023. These labels will now be replaced by a grey verified checkmark.

Reddit writes that its approach to verification is “voluntary, opt-in, and explicitly not about status.” Instead, the checkmarks are meant to help add clarity for users and make it easier for subreddit moderators to identify members. 

The group of public figures and trusted partners selected for this initial test will receive a grey checkmark next to their pseudonymous usernames across profiles, communities, feeds, post detail pages, and search results, the company’s announcement explains.

Verified individuals will also gain access to Reddit Pro, while verified businesses will be able to highlight content with new profile flairs, such as AMAs or announcements that they’ve posted to their profiles, alerting other users. 

All unselected users are unable to request verification at this time.

The company will share more information on the selected group of testers and further verification options if it decides to expand the test.

Reddit’s decision to begin testing verification checkmarks comes a day after X was fined €120 million by the European Commission, partly due to its verification system’s violation of the Digital Services Act.