WARNING: The Metaverse Is Not Safe! Experts Reveal Harassment Will Continue Despite Technological Advancements
The Metaverse, a virtual world where people interact with one another through digital avatars, promises boundless opportunities for entertainment, work, and socializing. However, as many experts caution, it’s not a utopia free of real-world problems, such as harassment, bullying, and discrimination. In fact, they warn that these issues may become even more prevalent in the Metaverse as people hide behind their digital masks and exploit the anonymity and power imbalances of the virtual world.
The Metaverse is still in its early stages, but companies like Facebook, Epic Games, and Roblox are investing billions of dollars to make it a mainstream destination for millions of users. However, as they create immersive environments that replicate real-life experiences, they must also address the risks that come with it. According to a recent study by the Anti-Defamation League, harassment and hate speech are alarmingly common in online multiplayer games, undermining the safety and enjoyment of players.
The researchers found that 29% of adult gamers experienced online harassment, with 47% of them being female and non-binary players. The most common forms of harassment were character attacks, trolling, and hate speech, often targeting players’ gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or religion. Moreover, the study revealed that few players reported the incidents to game moderators or law enforcement, indicating that they didn’t trust the authorities to act on their complaints.
But what does all of this have to do with the Metaverse, you may ask? Well, the Metaverse is essentially a giant multiplayer game that spans across different platforms and devices, allowing players to create their own identity and interact with strangers from all over the world. While this can be exhilarating and empowering, it can also be intimidating and threatening, especially for marginalized groups that face discrimination and harassment in the real world.
Imagine, for instance, that you’re a Black female player in the Metaverse, excited to explore new worlds and meet people who share your interests. However, as soon as you enter a public space, you’re bombarded with racist and sexist comments, your avatar is being groped or assaulted, and others are calling for your banishment or even death. Would you still feel welcome and safe in the Metaverse? Probably not.
The problem with the Metaverse, as experts suggest, is that it replicates the same social dynamics and power structures of the real world, complete with its biases, prejudices, and inequalities. Moreover, it amplifies them by allowing people to hide behind their screens and assume personas that may be unrecognizable or unaccountable in the real world. This can lead to a sense of impunity and entitlement among some players who feel they can do whatever they want without consequences.
According to Dr. Kishonna Gray, a professor of communication and gender and women’s studies, the Metaverse is not a neutral or democratic space but rather a contested one that reflects and reinforces the dominant norms and values of the society that creates and controls it. She notes that the Metaverse can be a site of liberation or oppression, depending on whose interests are being served and whose voices are being heard.
To make the Metaverse safer and more inclusive, companies must take proactive measures to prevent and address harassment and hate speech, such as implementing clear and fair community guidelines, creating reporting and moderation systems that are transparent and responsive, and investing in education and awareness campaigns that promote empathy and respect among players. Moreover, they must involve diverse and representative groups of users in the design, development, and governance of the Metaverse, ensuring that their needs and perspectives are taken into account.
But even with all these measures in place, the Metaverse may never be completely safe, just as the real world may never be. As long as some people feel entitled to harm and exploit others for their own pleasure or gain, we will always face the risk of harassment and abuse in any public space. However, we can at least try to minimize that risk by creating a culture of kindness, tolerance, and accountability, both in the Metaverse and in the real world. We can choose to treat others with dignity and respect, and demand the same from others. We can create spaces where everyone feels welcome and valued, regardless of their identity or background. And we can remind ourselves that the Metaverse is not a substitute for human connection but rather a supplement to it, and that our interactions with others should reflect our best selves.
The metaverse may be virtual, but it’s bringing up some of the same problems as the real world.
Key Takeaways
- Even though the metaverse is just getting started, users are already experiencing harassment in the virtual world. Companies like Meta are taking steps to prevent metaverse users from unwanted interactions. But some experts say that policing the metaverse may present unique challenges.
A spate of online harassment incidents is a sign that policing the network of 3D worlds known as the metaverse could be a challenge. Companies are trying to find ways to make the metaverse safer.
“The metaverse is simply a digital extension of the real world,” Elmer Morales, the CEO of metaverse startup Campus, told Lifewire in an email interview. “Given many people use pseudonyms in virtual worlds, they can be more likely to harass others since there may not be a clear set of repercussions.”
Virtual Harassment
The metaverse is still in its infancy, but it’s not been immune to problems of harassment. According to Meta, a stranger recently groped a beta tester on the new metaverse platform Horizon Worlds.
The beta tester could have used a tool called “Safe Zone” that’s part of a suite of safety features built into Horizon Worlds. A Safe Zone is a protective area you can activate when feeling threatened. No one can interact with you when you are in the zone.
The Horizon World experience is an example of how companies need to step up their efforts to protect users in the metaverse, experts say.
“We’ve had virtual worlds for a very long time, and this has been an ongoing problem for many years,” Morales said. “It’s day 0 for the metaverse, and now is a good time for metaverse companies to build tools that help prevent harassment.”
Campus allows users to configure a “safe zone” during the onboarding process. This ‘safe zone’ will create a bubble around the avatars that no one can interfere with or come close to.
Bucking the Trend
Policing the metaverse may present unique challenges. If a social media user is banned for bad behavior, they can just discontinue using the service. But that might not be an option in the metaverse, Allan Buxton, the director of forensics at Secure Data Recovery Services, told Lifewire in an email interview.
“If your employment, banking, or medical history is tied to services only available through the metaverse, then quitting the site isn’t really an option, much less other options like creating a new identity and ‘starting over,’” he added. “As we’ve seen some harassers follow their targets between social media sites (from Twitter to Instagram etc.), the metaverse could very well allow harassment to bleed over into real-world services.”
In an email interview, Jonathan Ovadia, the CEO of AEXLAB, a virtual reality and gaming studio, said that his company focuses on establishing community guidelines to keep behavior in line.
“This approach has helped self-correct our community through social enforcement,” he added. “If players act out of line, they will be reported, and action will be taken. Luckily for us, it has not been a major issue, but we are aware as we continue to scale, we need to focus deeply on maintaining our games culture and friendly community.”
Amir Bozorgzadeh, the CEO of virtual reality company Virtuleap, agreed that moderation is vital. He predicted that a niche industry is going to spring up in which companies will come up with ways to address the various dangers inherent in metaverse environments.
“The unfortunate thing is that these innovations will only come about incrementally, through trial and error, and at first very imperfectly as society encounters each wave of incidents one after another,” he said.
But some observers say that the metaverse could lead to less harassment in the workplace. Virtual work environments allow companies to monitor and record employee interactions carefully, Graham Ralston, head of operations at Spot, a 3D virtual workplace, told Lifewire in an email interview.
“A metaverse platform can provide protection for the harassed if they would feel more comfortable approaching HR virtually as an avatar compared to a ‘black screen on zoom,’ video feed, or just an email,” he said.
Correction 01/10/2022: Corrected the company for Allan Buxton in paragraph 9 to reflect the full company name: Secure Data Recovery Services.
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