Metaverse Under Investigation
A woman has said she was groped by a stranger while working as a beta tester on Meta’s Horizon Worlds platform. She’s not the first—and won’t be the last.
A Meta internal investigation concluded that the victim hadn’t enabled safety features. Meta has faced repeated claims that it fails to protect users of its products.
Meta’s internal review of the incident found that the beta tester should have used a tool called “Safe Zone” that’s part of a suite of safety features built into Horizon Worlds. Safe Zone is a protective bubble users can activate when feeling threatened. Within it, no one can touch them, talk to them, or interact in any way until they signal that they would like the Safe Zone lifted.
Horizon World enables users to socialize and play games with up to 20 other avatars. In a post in the beta testers’ official Facebook group, the unnamed woman said that her avatar was groped by a stranger, and other users had supported the incident, The Verge reported.
“Sexual harassment is no joke on the regular internet, but being in VR adds another layer that makes the event more intense,” the woman wrote. She said that incident occurred in the Plaza, one of the main areas that people gather, per The Verge.
If anything is clear, it’s this: There is nobody responsible for the rights and safety of those who participate anywhere online, let alone in virtual worlds. Until something changes, the metaverse will remain a dangerous, problematic space.
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