Who knew that the metaverse would struggle with the same social issues we have in the real world?
I mean, all of us. All of us knew this would happen. And it is happening, just like we all knew.
A mom says she was groped by a gang of men in Facebook’s metaverse world. She says it happened right when she arrived.
Nina Jane Patel was viewing the metaverse through her VR headset when she says she created her avatar. Upon completion of her avatar, she says that three men who had realistic avatars attacked her. She could only watch and listen through her VR headset device as the attack continued.
Worse more, Nina says other metaverse folks were watching as the attack went down.
Nina logged in from her hometown of London using Facebook’s Horizon Venues metaverse application. After creating her avatar, she claims she walked into a lobby where this world begins. But right when she entered the lobby, the men ganged up on her and groped her and lashed out verbally against her. Making things worse, the men were taking screen shots the entire time.
Nina says she ripped her headset from her head so that she could end the horrifying experience.
Nina says the attack has left her in an anxious state of mind.
‘I entered the Horizon Venues metaverse as an avatar who looked just like me – middle-aged, blonde and dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved top.’ Nina told Daily Mail.
‘The space you enter is a lobby, like a theatre foyer. Within 60 seconds, three male avatars – who all had male voices – came towards me and touched me inappropriately.
‘Before I knew what was happening, they were taking screen shots of them touching my avatar, both my upper and lower body. While doing that, they said things like, “Don’t pretend you don’t love it.”
‘I tried to move away but they followed me. I didn’t know who these people were or have the time to stay and investigate.’
The metaverse is a new frontier with few guardrails. The early years of such technology will likely be ripe with bad characters. Some legal experts believe that sexual offense laws will need to be updated to accommodate virtual reality technology.
Nina claims she’s experienced other unsettling moments in prior visits to Horizon Venues. Horizon Venues apparently is equipped with a safe zone that allows you freedom from interaction. While you’re supposed to be 18+, many people simply lie about their age.
Facebook’s Horizon Venues released the following statement:
‘We’re sorry to hear this happened. Horizon Venues should be safe and we are committed to building it that way. We will continue to make improvements as we learn more about how people interact in these spaces, especially helping people report things easily and reliably.’
Clearly, there’s going to be an adjustment period as the metaverse evolves. While Facebook takes credit for the metaverse, they are far from the only option and weren’t the first to create it. Metaverse options are many and it may turn out that safety will play a big role in deciding which metaverse to visit.
While you can’t actually touch anyone using the metaverse, it is easy to see how traumatic experiences in a virtual world could leave people with post traumatic stress disorder. Nina’s experience certainly qualifies as a cautionary tale.