Sun 29 May 2022:
Mark Zuckerberg announced Metaverse, a platform for connecting people online that includes augmented and virtual reality, with much fanfare and optimism.
However, just like social media sites, where bullying and cybercrime are commonplace, Metaverse has its own set of vices.
A 21-year-old woman was sexually abused and harassed virtually within an hour of entering the Metaverse, according to an online watchdog.
According to a new report from SumOfUs, a “nonprofit advocacy organization and online community that campaigns to hold corporations accountable” for a variety of alleged infractions, the woman was raped within one hour of being in the metaverse, according to a report titled “Metaverse: another cesspool of toxic content.”
The unnamed woman, who works as a researcher for SumOfUs‚ claimed that her avatar was raped while other users watched after he led her into a private room at a party on “Horizon Worlds,”—a metaverse platform released by Meta last December in the US and Canada that allows users to gather with others, play games and build their own virtual worlds.
Even though everything is happening virtually, the woman could sense the unwanted touch and grope through the VR controllers.
In the Metaverse, when a user is touched by another, the hand controllers vibrate, “creating a very disorienting and even disturbing physical experience during a virtual assault.”
“It happened so fast I kind of disassociated. One part of my brain was like ‘WTF is happening,’ the other part was like ‘this isn’t a real body,’ and another part was like, ‘this is important research,’” the unnamed researcher said in the report.
“VR users have long reported problems with sexual harassment, verbal abuse, racial slurs, and invasion of personal space on a myriad of apps,” the watchdog added.
Responding to the incident, a representative for Meta told the Daily Mail, “We don’t recommend turning off the safety feature with people you do not know.”
Other examples of sexual harassment in the metaverse were also reported in the SumOfUs study.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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