Table of Contents
Our data security measures may also be breached due to employee error, malfeasance, theft, fraud, misconduct, or otherwise, or third parties may attempt
to fraudulently induce employees, Redditors, or our advertisers to disclose sensitive or personal information in order to gain access to our data or Redditors’ or
advertisers’ data or accounts. Since people on Reddit and our advertisers may use Reddit to establish and maintain online identities, unauthorized
communications from Reddit accounts that have been compromised may damage their personal security, reputations, and brands as well as our reputation and
brand. Because the techniques used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service, or sabotage or breach systems continue to evolve in
sophistication and volume and often are not recognized until launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques, timely detect and
appropriately remediate and respond, defend against such attacks, or implement adequate preventative measures. Moreover, the increasing sophistication and
resources of cyber criminals and other non-state threat actors and increased actions by nation-state actors make keeping up with new threats difficult, as the
techniques used to obtain unauthorized access to, or to sabotage, systems or networks are constantly evolving and generally are not recognized until launched
against a target. Additionally, attackers have used machine learning and AI to launch more automated, targeted, and coordinated attacks against targets.
Consequently, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques, detect or react in a timely manner, or implement preventative measures, which could result in
delays in our detection or remediation of, or other response to, data security breaches and other data security-related incidents. If an actual or perceived breach
of our or our third-party providers’ data security occurs, Redditors and our advertisers may be harmed, lose trust and confidence in us, decrease the use of our
products and services, or stop using our products and services entirely. In the event of a data security breach, we may also incur significant legal and financial
exposure, including as a result of litigation and other claims, regulatory investigations and inquiries, fines and penalties for non-compliance with applicable
data privacy-related laws, rules, or regulations, remediation costs, or indemnification requests. Any of these actions could have an adverse effect on our
business, results of operations, financial condition, and prospects.
We anticipate that our ongoing efforts related to data privacy, safety, security, and content review will identify instances of misuse of user data or other
undesirable activity by third parties on our platform.
In addition to our efforts to mitigate cybersecurity risks, we are making investments in privacy, safety, security, and content review efforts to combat
misuse of our services and user data by third parties. As a result of these efforts, we may discover incidents of misuse of, or unauthorized access to, user data or
other undesirable activity by third parties. We have taken steps to protect the integrity of our API, but despite these efforts, our security measures or those of
our third-party providers could be insufficient or breached as a result of third-party action, malfeasance, employee errors, service provider errors, technological
limitations, defects or vulnerabilities in our platform, or otherwise. We may not discover all such incidents or activity, whether as a result of our data or
technical limitations, including our lack of visibility over our encrypted services, the scale of activity on our platform, challenges related to our personnel
working remotely, the allocation of resources to other projects, or other factors, and the media, or other third parties. Such incidents and activities may include
the use of user data or our systems in a manner inconsistent with our terms, contracts, or policies, the existence of false or undesirable user accounts, election
interference, improper advertising practices, activities that threaten people’s safety online or offline, or instances of spamming, scraping, data harvesting,
unsecured datasets, or spreading misinformation. For example, third parties often attempt to access and collect Reddit site data through “scraping” and other
unauthorized mechanisms for unauthorized purposes, such as distributing such data to other parties for commercial purposes or training AI models for
commercial purposes. We may also be unsuccessful in our efforts to enforce our policies or otherwise remediate any such incidents. Any of the foregoing
developments may negatively affect Redditor trust and engagement, harm our reputation and brand, make it more difficult for us to monetize our API, require
us to change our business practices in a manner adverse to our business, and adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition, and
prospects. Any such developments may also subject us to additional litigation and regulatory inquiries, which could subject us to monetary penalties and
damages, divert management’s time and attention, and lead to enhanced regulatory oversight.
Redditor growth and engagement depends upon effective interoperation with operating systems, networks, devices, web browsers, online application stores,
regulations, and standards that we do not control. Changes in our products or to those operating systems, networks, devices, web browser, online
application stores, regulations, or standards may harm Redditor retention, growth, and engagement, which could harm our business, results of operations,
financial condition, and prospects.
Because we make our products and services available across a variety of operating systems, networks, and websites, we are dependent on the
interoperability of our products and services with popular devices, desktop and mobile operating systems, and web browsers that we do not control, such as
Mac OS, Windows, Android, iOS, Chrome, Safari, and Firefox. Any changes to these operating systems, devices, web browsers, or online stores distributing
our apps that impact the accessibility, speed, or functionality of our products and services or give preferential treatment to competitive products
57