Users have reported concerns about sexual and verbal harassment in virtual reality settings, especially for children using the platform.
Metaverse opens the door to a whole new world of virtual reality.
“This is the decisive quality of the Metaverse.” Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of the Metaverse, said, “I feel like I’m with someone else.”
But as some people walk through that door, they find a well-known problem, despite promises from tech leaders like Zuckerburg.
“Privacy and security need to be built into the Metaverse from day one,” he said.
For the past five years, Nina Jane Patel has been studying how technology shapes the psychological effects of human interactions and immersive experiences.
“This is something women have put up with for decades and is just an acceptable part of the Internet,” Patel said. “My question is why it is accepted.”
Despite her many years of research, she wasn’t completely ready for what happened when she entered Facebook’s metaverse platform, Horizon Venues.
“Within 60 seconds of entering, three male avatars surround me, and the voices of the male avatars are very close to me, harassing me verbally, sexually harassing me, and avatars in a place that can only be called sexual assault. I took a picture that touched on. In a virtual space. ” “Our fight or flight reaction happened and I froze and couldn’t operate the headset fast enough.”
With Patel’s experience, Silicon Valley entrepreneur Aaron Stanton returned in 2016, explaining that he was groping for a virtual reality game co-created by gamers.
“I remember feeling really frustrated and angry at the harassing person. It’s helpless,” Stanton said. “Then he was really surprised by the general community reaction to it.”
A few days later, he himself experienced virtual groping in another game.
And they are not alone. Other users have reported similar concerns in virtual reality. Which one raises the question, what about kids on these platforms?
Common Sense Media has released a report that 17% of children between the ages of 8 and 18 in the United States have VR headsets, and even more have tried virtual reality.
The same report outlines the dangers to children, such as sexual content and abuse.
The Center for Countering Digital Hate, a non-profit organization, published a similar survey in December.
They spent more than 11 hours on a third-party program called VR Chat. They say they have discovered the threat of bullying, sexual harassment and violence.
In addition to instructing the user to remove the headset, Stanton says, VR tools can be used to address the issue.
“VR can be used to interrupt the negative formation at this moment and replace it with something more capable,” says Stanton. “Of course, that should never happen, but if so, somehow you feel that way and then come out, you can treat yourself.”
In a statement to Newsy, Meta states that it has introduced personal boundaries between Horizon Worlds and Horizon Venues to make it easier to avoid unnecessary interactions. In addition, we plan to continue making improvements this month, including the announcement of tools for parents.
People like Stanton and Patel want more complex, industry-wide conversations.
“We can solve this problem,” Patel said. “We can put safety first and build a metaverse where children can interact with each other in a safe environment. We can trust that there are no people out there who shouldn’t be there. It’s entirely It’s possible, it’s possible, it’s not the technology that’s blocking us. “
Patel says she’s still a 110% parent metaverse and is excited about the doors that virtual reality can open into the future. But she says it’s time to make it a safe environment.
Starting this month, Meta will introduce a new tool for parents that will allow certain apps to be blocked from children. Next month, Meta says it will automatically block teens from downloading apps that are inappropriate for their age.
