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- An analyst who stepped into the metaverse for doing research in the virtual space was assaulted sexually by other avatars.
- Even if the incident occurred in the digital realm, it left the analyst ‘disoriented,’ she stated in the report.
- Four other users also stated that their digital avatars were sexually abused in the Horizon worlds and other Meta Virtual Reality Platforms.
Another Victim Revealed
A researcher forayed into the metaverse to do some study regarding human behavior in the Horizon World, a social networking platform by Meta. But just after she entered the virtual world via her Oculus headset, she claimed that her avatar was harassed sexually.
As per a report, the analyst was invited to a private party in the Horizon World. Users in a similar room requested her to disable a setting that prevented them from entering within the 4 feet of a radius of the avatar.
As per a video, a male avatar appeared close to her, while the other was watching. A couple of avatars then share a bottle of what appears to be vodka. A couple of male voices can be heard making lewd comments.
Sense of Disorientation
Even though this incident occurred in virtual reality, it left the analyst ‘disoriented,’ she stated in the report. She said that her controller vibrated when the male characters touched her avatar, eventually giving a physical sensation resulting from what was happening online.
She stated in the report that a part of her brain thought about what was this happening, and the other part thought that this was an essential research.
Horizon Worlds by Meta was released back in December for the folks aged 18 or more in the United States and Canada. By February, the number of users grew to 300,000 on the platform.
Four other users in the metaverse had claimed before that they were either sexually assaulted or harassed by the other avatars present in the space. In November, a user said that she was groped in the Horizon Worlds.
Kristina Milian, a representative of Meta, stated that there are safety tools in the metaverse, which allow the folks to get a positive experience in the metaverse, and if users don’t utilize them, then it is their fault, not the organization’s.
After a month, this statement was given, and another victim was revealed, saying that she was assaulted sexually by 4 avatars. In the same month, another female reported a groping incident with her on a shooter game owned by Meta.
Metaverse sure is a mesmerizing experience, and Meta (formerly Facebook) wants to take this experience to the next level.
But if such activities keep occurring with the users, we need to ask that, is it worth the cost females pay there?
Anurag is working as a fundamental writer for The Coin Republic since 2021. He likes to exercise his curious muscles and research deep into a topic. Though he covers various aspects of the crypto industry, he is quite passionate about the Web3, NFTs, Gaming, and Metaverse, and envisions them as the future of the (digital) economy. A reader & writer at heart, he calls himself an “average guitar player” and a fun footballer.
