Recent investigations on the Metaverse have revealed that many of its digital worlds are steeped with sexual abuse, child grooming, and graphic content since it first launched in 2021, according to the Daily Mail.
Most notorious were in the Horizon Worlds server where a recent Center for Countering Digital Hate findings noted that it is “not uncommon” for adult users to harass and threaten minors.
Meta has declined to comment on the incident.
So far, no law has been implemented yet to address and legally penalize assaulters. And for many perpetrators hiding behind internet anonymity, it is harder to hold them responsible.
Online watchdogs and activists have been urging government agencies to act fast on the problem that is continuously growing in a platform unregulated to this specific issue.
Zero Abuse Project, a non-profit online initiative to fight abuse and sexual assault on children, has been
Just this year, the US Department of Justice granted the group’s request to conduct workshops to raise awareness of the digital world’s dangers to state and local police.
The International Criminal Police Organization has also called for a “need to define what constitutes crimes and harms in the Metaverse.”
The INTERPOL last month announced that it is investigating how global and local police forces could mitigate crime in the VR world.
Online Sexual Harassment Have Psychological Impact to Victims
Several studies in the past have already confirmed that online harassment, including sexual assaults and threats, has a significant psychological impact on people, similar to real-life attacks.
Unlike regular video games, the users experience the digital world from a first-person perspective, making it much more seemingly realistic if they were harassed online.
It does not help that headsets from Apple and Meta are equipped with top-of-the-line audio and visual technology that could further escalate the fear and trauma a user may experience online.
Many of the VR worlds in the Metaverse allow open mics to encourage people to interact with each other, leading many users to hear unsolicited cat calls, slurs, and graphic noises.
Quadri Olaitan is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, public affairs, and human-interest stories.
