Featured Image Credit: VR Chat
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Anyone who is chronically online knows that the internet is simultaneously the best and worst thing to have happened to the world. Everything is available faster, cheaper, and easier than ever before, while the anonymity of the internet allows people to do things they would rightly never do in real life. Now, big tech companies such as Facebook are openly backing the metaverse, effectively calling it the next big step for the online world.
With the metaverse going mainstream, people are taking a more critical look at the concept. Children's protection charity the NSPCC has now said that the metaverse poses "a toxic combination of risks" and is "entirely inappropriate" for children. A BBC report looked into one of the metaverse's most popular apps, VRChat, which is recommended for ages 13 and up. However, despite the young barrier for entry anyone who has entered VRChat will know there is plenty of adult content to be discovered.
The reporter encountered everything from orgy riddled strip clubs, to sex toys brandished as freely as racial slurs - essentially what VRChat calls a Tuesday. While there is the possibility to block and report accounts for inappropriate behaviour, the issue is the lack of moderation. There simply aren't the staff available to investigate the reports. Everyone is anonymous, using an avatar and a username, and there is no one really policing the in game activity. While it may break terms of conduct, essentially any child can enter VRChat and go wild.
Head of online child safety at the NSPCC, Andy Burrows, went on to describe the metaverse as "a product that is dangerous by design, because of oversight and neglect. We are seeing products rolled out without any suggestion that safety has been considered." So I guess I won't be having a virtual cocktail with him in Paris Hilton's Roblox penthouse any time soon.