{"id":383189,"date":"2021-12-17T21:32:25","date_gmt":"2021-12-17T18:32:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/woman-claims-she-was-virtually-groped-in-meta-vr-metaverse\/"},"modified":"2021-12-17T21:32:25","modified_gmt":"2021-12-17T18:32:25","slug":"woman-claims-she-was-virtually-groped-in-meta-vr-metaverse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/woman-claims-she-was-virtually-groped-in-meta-vr-metaverse\/","title":{"rendered":"#Woman claims she was virtually &#8216;groped\u2019 in Meta VR Metaverse"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;<strong>#Woman claims she was virtually &#8216;groped\u2019 in Meta VR Metaverse<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>A beta tester has claimed she was virtually \u201cgroped\u201d in the metaverse VR platform Horizon Worlds from Meta,\u00a0the company formerly known as <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Meta revealed the incident on Dec. 1, saying it occurred on Nov. 26. The woman had reported the assault on the Horizon Worlds beta testing Facebook group.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSexual harassment is no joke on the regular internet, but being in VR adds another layer that makes the event more intense,\u201d she wrote, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2021\/12\/9\/22825139\/meta-horizon-worlds-access-open-metaverse\">according to the Verge<\/a>. \u201cNot only was I groped last night, but there were other people there who supported this behavior, which made me feel isolated in the Plaza,\u201d the virtual environment\u2019s central gathering space.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSevere\u201d encounters of online harassment \u2014 including physical threats, stalking and \u201crepeated\u201d harassment \u2014 are on the rise, according to a <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/internet\/2021\/01\/13\/the-state-of-online-harassment\/\">2020 Pew Research poll<\/a>, with the percentage of users reporting such incidents jumping from 15% in 2014 to 25% today. While much of it takes place on social media, VR is still nascent and already an <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>arent venue for harassment.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n    <\/aside>\n<p>Horizon Worlds, operated by VR company Oculus \u2014 which is also owned by Meta \u2014 is billed as a pleasant, productive digital escape, a place to \u201ccreate in extraordinary ways\u201d and \u201cfind experiences that matter\u201d with your avatar friends. The platform currently supports up to 20 people during one virtual session.<\/p>\n<p>In its statement about the incident, Meta pointed to its \u201cSafe Zone\u201d feature, which allows users to place a block against interaction with other users. However, the company admitted that it needs to work on making the feature \u201ctrivially easy and findable,\u201d said Vivek Sharma, the vice president of Horizon, in a statement to the Verge.<\/p>\n<p>Meta spokesperson Kristina Milian also <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.technologyreview.com\/2021\/12\/16\/1042516\/the-metaverse-has-a-groping-problem\/\">told MIT Technology Review<\/a> that users are required to complete training that covers safeguarding tools before joining Horizon Worlds, while reminders are also prompted during users\u2019 experiences. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/metaverse_04.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"&quot;Severe&quot; encounters of online harassment, including physical threats, stalking and &quot;repeated&quot; harassment, are on the rise, according to a 2020 Pew Research poll.\" class=\"wp-image-20529222\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/metaverse_04.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/metaverse_04.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/metaverse_04.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>\u201cSevere\u201d encounters of online harassment, including physical threats, stalking and \u201crepeated\u201d harassment, are on the rise, according to a 2020 Pew Research poll.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Getty Images\/EyeEm<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Sexual harassment in virtual reality is sexual harassment in real life, full stop, experts have said. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cAt the end of the day, the nature of virtual-reality spaces is such that it is designed to trick the user into thinking they are physically in a certain space, that their every bodily action is occurring in a 3-D environment,\u201d Katherine Cross, a Ph.D. student researcher of online harassment at the University of Washington, told <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology<\/a> Review.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s part of the reason why emotional reactions can be stronger in that space, and why VR triggers the same internal nervous-system and psychological responses,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n    <\/aside>\n<p>Those who have suffered sexual harassment in VR elsewhere say that Meta\u2019s Safe Zone feature isn\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General<\/a>ly speaking, when companies address online abuse, their solution is to outsource it to the user and say, \u2018Here, we give you the power to take care of yourselves,&#8217;\u201d said Cross. Meanwhile, Meta\u2019s Milian maintained that it\u2019s \u201cnever a user\u2019s fault if they don\u2019t use all the features we offer,\u201d adding that they will continue to \u201cimprove\u201d the platform. <\/p>\n<p>However, Horizon Worlds isn\u2019t the only space where alleged harassment has occurred.<\/p>\n<p>Aaron Stanton, co-developer of the VR <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a> Quivr, remembers an ordeal in 2016 when a gamer, Jordan Belamire, reported getting \u201cgroped in virtual reality\u201d while hunting zombies and demons in the game. User BigBro442, whose avatar was merely one disembodied head and two floating hands, reportedly chased Belamire and grabbed her chest and crotch, then refused to pull away as she cried stop. That only \u201cgoaded him on,\u201d <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/athena-talks\/my-first-virtual-reality-sexual-assault-2330410b62ee\">Belamire<\/a> <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/athena-talks\/my-first-virtual-reality-sexual-assault-2330410b62ee\">said<\/a>. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/metaverse_02.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"Those who have suffered sexual harassment in VR elsewhere say that Meta's &quot;Safe Zone&quot; feature isn't enough.\" class=\"wp-image-20529219\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/metaverse_02.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/metaverse_02.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/metaverse_02.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Those who have suffered sexual harassment in VR elsewhere say that Meta\u2019s Safe Zone feature isn\u2019t enough.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">NurPhoto via Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Quivr soon developed a shielding \u201cpower gesture,\u201d in which a user can cross their arms in the air, signaling to moderators to intervene. But Stanton is still haunted by what happened to Belamire and wishes he had pushed for more protections.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was a lost opportunity,\u201d he told Technology Review. \u201cWe could have avoided that incident at Meta.\u201d\n                        <\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/12\/17\/woman-claims-she-was-virtually-groped-in-meta-vr-metaverse\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#Woman claims she was virtually &#8216;groped\u2019 in Meta VR Metaverse&#8221; A beta tester has claimed she was virtually \u201cgroped\u201d in the metaverse VR platform Horizon Worlds from Meta,\u00a0the company formerly known as Facebook. Meta revealed the incident on Dec. 1, saying it occurred on Nov. 26. The woman had reported the assault on the Horizon&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":383190,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/12\/metaverse_03.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[121972,4974,10751,71374,4976,17813],"class_list":["post-383189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-12-17-21","tag-facebook","tag-gaming","tag-sexual-harassment","tag-social-media","tag-virtual-reality"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=383189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/383189\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/383190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=383189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=383189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=383189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}