Advocacy and security groups are urging Mark Zuckerberg's social media giant Meta to halt plans to allow minors into the Metaverse.
Online safety groups and experts wrote to Meta's chief executive on April 14, calling on the company to drop plans to invite teens and young adults to join its metaverse app, Horizon Worlds. According to Bloomberg, the letter was signed by major security organizations, including Airplay, the Center Against Digital Hate, Common Sense Media and others.
Activists argue that Meta must first assess the potential risks of allowing young people into the Metaverse, as minors could face harassment and privacy violations on its virtual reality apps. "Meta must await more peer-reviewed research on the potential risks of the Metaverse to ensure children and young people are safe," the advocates wrote in their letter.
The statement referred to a March report by the Center Against Digital Hate, which found that users under the age of 18 had already faced adult harassment on the app. During 100 visits to the most popular worlds in the Horizon Universe, the study specifically witnessed 19 incidents of abuse, including sexual harassment, by adults against minors.
Security experts believe that Meta should forge a new path to protect young people through its metaverse project, stating: "If Meta opens the doors of these worlds to minors, instead of stopping to protect them, you're proving once again that your company can't be trusted to protect the best interests of young people."
As previously reported, Meta began planning to open Horizon World to users aged 13 to 17 in February. The company opened up the world of Horizon to 18 users starting in 2021, but has struggled to bring users back to the platform.
According to Bloomberg, Meta’s Joe Osborne stated that Meta does not currently plan to abandon its plans to serve miners in the Metaverse, but is preparing to take some additional measures to protect these users from any Metaverse-related breaches.
"Before we make Horizon Worlds available to teens, we'll be providing additional protections and tools to help give them an age-appropriate experience," Osborne noted, adding: "Quest headsets are intended for ages 13+, and we encourage parents and caregivers to use our parental oversight tools, including managing access to the app, to help ensure a safe experience."
The latest move to protect minors in virtual reality is not the first time Meta has called for a rethink of its plans to allow teens into virtual worlds. The move follows a joint letter from Senators Ed Markey and Richard Blumental in early March asking Meta to abandon plans to expand access to the app among 13- to 17-year-olds.
