Users on the Horizon Worlds app, in the U.S. and Canada, can come together with others and play games. They can also create their own virtual worlds. It was released by Meta, formerly Facebook, on December 9.
Already, issues have arisen. An early tester of the metaverse platform reported, in November, that her avatar was “virtually groped.”
“Sexual harassment is no joke on the regular internet, but being in VR(virtual reality) adds another layer that makes the event more intense,” the woman said. “Not only was I groped last night, but there were people there who supported this behavior which made me feel isolated.”
The company is aware of the occurrence. “We want everyone in Horizon Worlds to have a positive experience with safety tools that are easy to find. It’s never the user’s fault if they don’t use all of the feature’s that we offer,” a Meta spokesperson said.
However, Meta’s internal investigation of the incident noted that the victim should have utilized a safety tool named, ‘Safe Zone.’
