Facebook’s parent company, Meta, recently launched a virtual platform called Horizon Worlds to the public. The platform was Meta’s first step towards realizing the metaverse, but its launch was plagued by problems.
Horizon Worlds is a virtual arena accessible using a Quest VR headset where 20 people can hang out online as avatars. In this place, users can watch movies, meditate, and build objects like in the game Minecraft.

Metaverse for Beta Tester

This platform was first announced in September 2019 before covid19 and already has a beta tester. However, one of the beta testers admitted that his avatar in cyberspace had been abused.

According to users, the video capture takes place in VR which adds another layer that makes it even more intense. The user was groped last night, there were also several people there who supported his behavior that made him feel alienated at the Plaza.

In an interview with The Verge, VP Horizon Meta Vivek Sharma called the situation very popular. After Meta reviewed the incident, they said that the beta testers were not using the security features built into Horizon Worlds. Maybe the user has not tried the feature.

That’s good feedback that gives an idea to make (Safe Zone feature) easier and easier to find.

Meta says users can activate a feature called Safe Zone which creates a bubble around the user that no one else can penetrate if they want to keep their distance.

But personal space is likely to be a problem for virtual platforms like Horizon Worlds. Then the question arises whether users are harassed if it occurs in cyberspace.

Sexual harassment is not only physical, it can be like what happens in cyberspace. Verbal harassment can also be a virtual experience. Of course, meta has to take responsibility for this occurrence. To ensure in the metaverse, Meta itself has placed moderators in each virtual space, but they keep users safe to enable security features such as Safe Zone.

The UI is constantly being improved to better understand how people use the metaverse tool so users can report things easily. The goal of meta is to make Horizon Worlds safe, and meta is committed to doing the job.