EU's 'Right to Be Forgotten' Collides with Reddit's Content Grip: Can Non-EU Citizens Get Deletion?

Post date: November 10, 2025 · Discovered: April 17, 2026 · 4 posts, 19 comments

For EU citizens, 'MajorHavoc' asserted the 'right to be forgotten' legally mandates Reddit's data removal. Practically, the best advice for action came from 'trainden,' who directed users to the 'Inquiries Related to Your Privacy Rights' support path for account deletion.

Opinions are split on enforcement. MajorHavoc staked the legal claim for EU residents, but the uncertainty looms for non-EU citizens attempting the same rights. Others noted the procedural failures, such as initial concerns about receiving false suspensions, and 'quixotic120' hammered home the fact that deleting an account leaves the user's actual content—posts and comments—on the platform.

The consensus is bleak: formal appeal processes for bans are widely seen as useless. Furthermore, even successful account deletion does not purge the content footprint. The primary battleground remains the legal enforceability of data removal rights outside the EU bloc.

Key Points

SUPPORT

Account deletion does not remove past user-generated content.

'quixotic120' pointed out that deleting an account leaves the posts and comments visible to everyone.

SUPPORT

EU law provides a specific 'right to be forgotten' against Reddit.

'MajorHavoc' stated this right legally entitles EU citizens to have their data removed.

SUPPORT

Procedural advice exists for account deletion requests.

'trainden' gave precise steps by directing users to the 'Inquiries Related to Your Privacy Rights' support page.

SUPPORT

Appealing bans or demanding deletion often fails.

There is a general understanding that appeals are ineffective, and initial reports cite multiple failures to get responses.

MIXED

Legal recourse against Reddit is uncertain for non-EU citizens.

While the 'right to be forgotten' exists for EU residents, its enforcement for non-EU users is described as uncertain.

Source Discussions (4)

This report was synthesized from the following Lemmy discussions, ranked by community score.

136
points
Reddit temporarily bans r/WhitePeopleTwitter after complaints from Elon Musk.
[email protected]·9 comments·2/4/2025·by bigfoot·reddit.com
73
points
If reddit banned you permanently, do you still have the right to be forgotten?
[email protected]·10 comments·8/20/2023·by imgprojts
4
points
Is there a way to get unbanned on Reddit?
[email protected]·4 comments·11/10/2025·by EerieSunflower
-13
points
shadowbanned
[email protected]·4 comments·11/6/2023·by vgn33