The metaverse: Children exposed to harmful content in the virtual universe, who to blame?

Instead of blaming tech companies for exposing children to harmful content in the virtual universe, we should consider the role of other stakeholders as well.

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Recently, the BBC's investigative reporter played a 13-year-old girl to participate in VRChat. This is an online virtual platform where users can interact with each other through 3D avatars through virtual reality (VR) enabled devices.

Rooms on VRChat contain many harmful content related to pornography, racism and threats of rape. BBC reporters witnessed many nude avatars and were approached by many adult men, lured into engaging in virtual reality sex acts.

The investigation has prompted child safety charities including the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) to warn about the dangers minors face. face when joining the virtual universe (metaverse).

The NSPCC seems to blame tech companies entirely, arguing that they need to do more to protect children's safety in online spaces. This is true but not enough because social media platforms cannot solve this problem alone.

Many people were shocked to read the story on the BBC, but ten years ago, when the term "metaverse" was still unpopular, similar cases appeared on platforms such as Club Penguin and Habbo Hotel. Asking tech companies to come up with more solutions to prevent incidents like this has been around for a long time, but not much has changed.

Companies often require age verification to prevent young people from accessing inappropriate services. However, if this were easy, it would be widely adopted. In fact, validating the age of users on the network bypasses data privacy concerns and is easy to implement across platforms.

In addition, censorship of chat content on applications cannot rely on algorithms alone. Artificial intelligence (AI) is not smart enough to monitor and prevent conversations that violate communication policies. Although control can be manipulated by humans, it is often not enough time and manpower to monitor them all.

In addition, platforms already provide a variety of tools to address harassment and abuse, which are not yet universal or many people do not believe they will be effective or simply do not want to use them.

Parents can't just sit back and complain, "My kids are being affected by bad content online, who's going to stop this?". Instead of just blaming tech companies, we should consider the role of other stakeholders.

If parents intend to buy their child a VR device, they also need to be responsible for ensuring the safety of their child's use. Parents can monitor the activity by asking their child to project the above content from the VR headset onto the TV or laptop. Or, check the apps and games your kids are interacting with before allowing them to use them.

We all have a role to play in supporting young people as they enter online spaces. Teens need to receive education and support from adults in dealing with the harms they may face online. This is not something that technology platforms  can do unilaterally.

Children face harmful content in the virtual universe

Applications belonging to the virtual universe platform (metaverse) can bring many toxic experiences that affect children if left unchecked.

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BBC investigative reporter Jess Sherwoo played a 13-year-old girl to participate in VRChat and the results were shocking. VRChat is an online virtual platform that users can explore with 3D avatars through virtual reality (VR) enabled devices. Jess used Meta's Oculus Quest headset to participate in this app.

VRChat can be downloaded from the Oculus Quest app store without age verification checks, the only requirement is a Facebook account. Jess created a fake profile to set up the account and she was able to join even though her identity was not verified.

She was shocked when she accessed virtual reality rooms, where many avatars were nude, rooms decorated in neon pink, like red-light districts displaying sensitive toys and sounds. opened very wide.

There are even characters who simulate sex on the floor in large groups, using sensitive language. Jess was approached by many adult men, who asked her why she didn't go to school and lured her into engaging in virtual reality sex acts.

In addition, VRChat also has pole dancing and strip clubs. Children can watch pole dancing and freely “mix up” with adults, which can lead to abusive behavior, or make threats of racism and rape.

An unnamed safety campaigner, who spent months investigating VRChat, said the characters on the app are so immersive that children actually have to make sexual moves.

Catherine Allen, who reports VR for the Institute of Engineering and Technology, says her team has done a lot of their experiences in VR, some very interesting and others disturbing. . She tells of an incident in an app owned by Meta, where she met a seven-year-old girl. A group of men surrounded the two and joked about rape. Allen had to step in between the men to protect the little girl.

Following a BBC investigation, the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) said improvements to online safety were urgent.

Andy Burrows, NSPCC's head of online child safety policy, said the app was dangerous because it bypassed the necessary supervision. Children are exposed to completely inappropriate experiences, which is a very dangerous problem.

The VRChat side told the BBC that they are working hard to make the app a safe and user-friendly place for everyone, insisting malicious behavior has no place on the platform.

Meta says it has tools to allow users to report and block accounts that engage in negative behavior, the company is trying to study how people interact on the metaverse to improve and put in place safety policies. .

The organizations recommend that parents check what apps their kids are using on VR headsets and, if possible, try them out for themselves to see if they're a good fit.

VR and the metaverse are yet to be specifically addressed in the UK's upcoming Online Safety Bill, but Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries has announced it will. The bill would place obligations on platforms and providers to protect children from harmful content.