WASHINGTON (TND) —A woman who was beta testing a virtual reality platform for Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, Inc., reportedly says she was "groped" virtually while in VR.
The incident allegedly occurred Nov. 26 in the Meta VR platform "Horizon Worlds", a multiplayer social space in virtual reality that allows users to hang out with up to 20 people at a time using Facebook accounts.
According to The Verge, the unnamed beta tester posted in the official Horizon Worlds group on Facebook about how her avatar was groped by a stranger.
Sexual harassment is no joke on the regular internet, but being in VR adds another layer that makes the event more intense," the beta tester reportedly wrote. "Not only was I groped last night, but there were other people there who supported this behavior which made me feel isolated in the Plaza.
Meta did an internal review of the incident, according to Technology Review, saying the woman did not use one of the available tools, called "Safe Zone", to activate a "protective bubble" which would prevent others from being able to touch her, talk to her, or interact with her in any way until she ended the utility.
Still, Meta vice president Vivek Sharma tells The Verge the sexual harassment incident is “absolutely unfortunate” and says the company will work to make safety features easier to understand and use. "I want to make [the blocking feature] trivially easy and findable,” Sharma reportedly said.
Also, Kristina Milian, a representative of Meta says to Technology Review "it’s never a user's fault if they don’t use all the features we offer" and “we want everyone in Horizon Worlds to have a positive experience with safety tools that are easy to find... we will continue to improve our UI and to better understand how people use our tools so that users are able to report things easily and reliably. Our goal is to make Horizon Worlds safe, and we are committed to doing that work.”
"Severe" online harassment, including stalking and threats, is on the rise according to a 2020 Pew Research Poll. In 2014, 15% of internet users told the poll they experienced such incidents. In 2021, the number jumped to 25% of users. Pew Research Center says 41% of American adults have personally experienced online harassment of some form.
Roughly four-in-ten Americans have experienced online harassment, with half of this group citing politics as the reason they think they were targeted. Growing shares face more severe online abuse such as sexual harassment or stalking," the Pew Research Center says.
Experts reportedly say VR sexual harassment is sexual harassment, and it still is considered "groping" even if actual physical contact was never made.
“I think people should keep in mind that sexual harassment has never had to be a physical thing,” says Ohio State University associate professor Jesse Fox in an interview with Technology Review. “It can be verbal, and yes, it can be a virtual experience as well." Fox reportedly researches the"social implications of virtual reality".
Fifty-one percent of Americans believe permanently suspending social media accounts of those who harass others is "very effective" for reducing online harassment, Pew Research Center reports. Forty-eight percent believe requiring users to disclose identities would also be very effective, according to the same data, and about 43% of Americans think criminal charges for online bullies would be "very effective"
Temporary bans of those who harass others online was deemed the least effective method of handling online harassment by Pew Research Center poll takers, with only 31% saying they believed it to be "very effective".
Woman says she was sexually harassed, 'groped' in Meta's virtual reality | The National Desk
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