The Metaverse is a Bunch of Lawsuit Waiting to Happen
Released for the public to a resounding thud, Horizon Worlds is Facebook’s answer to Ready Player One. But, unlike the exciting world we saw in the film, the metaverse’s Horizon Worlds is a hollow desolate wasteland of horrors waiting to happen. Effectively, it’s the same as Ready Player One’s Oasis, yet somehow worse. However, it seems that unlike the sanitized version of massive multiplayer online game portrayed in Steven Spielbergs’ film, Horizon Worlds’ “social experiment” isn’t as sanitary. Already there have been reports of sexual assault and rape inside this virtual environment, and people are rightly worried. Not everyone is familiar with blocking and other protection features used to prevent harassment on the web. If Facebook doesn’t take steps to ensure proper accessibility of these features, it might end up with multiple lawsuits. After all, as I’ve said numerous times, the internet is for porn, and the metaverse is no exception.
Porn is everywhere. You can’t escape it, especially on the web. Turn off your safe search and look for images of your favorite cartoon character; you’ll see what I mean. Even the most innocuous Google searches can lead someone to discover a previously unknown fetish. But, this is a fact that seems to elude Facebook. Every time we see an ad for the metaverse, they focus on how it’s a place to spend time with friends and hang out. Yet, we all know the truth is that the metaverse will be chock-full of adult-oriented content. I’ve written about it at lengths. Not only will the metaverse make sex work safe and accessible. It will also open the door to a lot of disturbing sub-cultures.
I don’t think it needs to be said, but people are into some weird stuff. Furry play, vore, scatophilia, necrophilia, gerontophilia, etc., are just a few of the ones whose names I recognize. However, there are many more that I’ve never heard about, yet the metaverse will probably introduce me to every fetish known to man; and some known only to monkeys. It’s almost inevitable.
You’ll be walking down some virtual street with your virtual friends, and a virtual mama-san will point you towards her fun new room. Once you’re in, you’ll discover that a giant woman the size of a skyscraper is swallowing your entire body in one gulp. A few blocks down, you’ll find a police station full of naked zombies from Resident Evil. What about the next street down the road? There’s a furry parade with furries running around in their birthday suits. All of this is possible in the metaverse, and like with the internet, stopping it is unlikely.
Yet here is the problem, kids are already playing in the metaverse’s Horizon Worlds. If the type of material you just read about is available to everyone, how will parents respond? I doubt anyone is happily exposing their kids to this content. Particularly so if it’s through a virtual reality headset that shoves it right in their face.
Historically, parents have overreacted about everything from Dungeons and Dragons to Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh cards. There is almost no way that at least one ignorant parent will not try to sue Facebook for exposing their kids to pornographic material. Failing that, America still has a substantial conservative population; remember when they sued Rockstar for the “Hot Coffee” incident in Grand Theft Auto San Andreas? There is a precedent for this type of lawsuit in America, and plenty of people are willing to use it against Facebook.
Currently, the metaverse has been under scrutiny for two specific cases of sexual harassment. In one, a woman claims she experienced verbal and sexual abuse by other users. No more than a minute after login into her account, other players began hurling sexually explicit comments and “touching” her avatar inappropriately. An earlier case involved the beta testers for the game, where at least one player reported that someone groped her during a gameplay session. In both these cases, the company determined that the players didn’t use the built-in safety features that Horizon World provides. But did the developers make these features readily accessible?
Theoretically, the ability to block someone in a virtual world like the metaverse should be instantaneous. Unlike other games where a layer exists between the game and the player, the metaverse doesn’t have that luxury. Everything happens right in your face, which makes situations like online sexual harassment that much worse. People can be traumatized by sexually charged content, and where does the responsibility lie? Some like Facebook will blame the users themselves for not using the blocking features or removing their headsets. But isn’t that the same as victim-blaming?
When people experience stress, their fight, flight, or freeze instinct is triggered, and their response can sometimes come off as illogical. Wouldn’t the responsibility lie with the perpetrator, or more so, the company that facilitated the harassment? Worse yet, does that mean the victim could sue Facebook or the perpetrator for emotional damage? It’s a possibility.
Grifters are touting the metaverse as the wild west of the internet. That’s why its community is full of investors and venture capitalists seeking to profit from it. The lack of specifics regarding what is and isn’t allowed inside the metaverse leaves the floor open to numerous possibilities. One potential danger of that freedom is the possibility of one player suing another. Whether it’s for creating mature content or engaging in stupid/dangerous behaviors, it’s all possible in the metaverse. But, since it’s all free, how will they even know who’s behind the screen? After all, Horizon Worlds is free-to-play; creating a burner account for trolling is easy. That’s unless Facebook decides to go full tyrant mode and control everything with an iron fist.
The metaverse is Jack Juckerberg’s domain; in it, he can do as he pleases. After all, Facebook and the metaverse are part of a private corporation; anything he deems suitable for the platform can exist within it. Consequently, anything he deems not inappropriate will get rejected. He can make it so that only users with verified identities can play. Perhaps, even make it so that a paywall restricts you from playing with others. But therein lies Morton’s fork. Facebook needs the metaverse to be a massive success, with nearly the same number of users as its social media platform. Otherwise, the investment towards it will be for naught. If it risks alienating the userbase by limiting their freedom, their profit margins will suffer.
The social media giant is already losing billions on this project, and it almost seems like it’s on freefall. If Tank Tuckerberg decides to restrict the content further, people will grow tired of the metaverse before it fully materializes. What options does that leave for the company before lawsuits blow it to oblivion, then? Well, not many, but there are a few.
For starters, the user agreement for the metaverse better be rock-solid. If they leave anything open to interpretation, lawyers will zero in on weakspots within seconds. Limit mature content to specific servers and then lock those behind age restrictions. We all know kids will lie about their age when accessing game content, so place the burden strictly on the parents. After all, if Electronics Art can do it with loot boxes, so can Facebook. Another option is simplifying the blocking process. Create a system that allows players to block each other with a simple button press or voice command. Are these perfect? No, but they at least provide some coverage of the basics. After all, if the metaverse is free, a ban will not stop users from creating burner accounts to harass others, so that option is null. Essentially, if Facebook wants to make the metaverse a success, it needs to balance freedom, creativity, and safety, something easier said than done.
Ultimately, the metaverse’s odds aren’t in its favor. The platform is ripe for abuse from immature youngsters and edgy teenagers. It’s also a potential avenue for anyone including kids to access sexually explicit content. The metaverse is also where sexual harassment and “virtual rape” are possible. The worst part is that unless they take specific control measures, this is likely to continue. If that’s the case, though, don’t be surprised when you see the headlines say: “Facebook facing class-action lawsuit for alleged metaverse content.” in the future.
So to recap:
Facebook’s metaverse will:
- Have tons of adult content available when it becomes widely adopted.
- Cater to almost any fetish imaginable, even the bad ones like necrophilia or worse.
- Have parents overreact when their kids inevitably discover they’re into vore.
- Be sued for exposing children to sexually explicit content.
- Have people suffer from virtual rape as it already did.
- Make the restriction features easily accessible or blame users for not knowing how to use them.
- Be sued for emotional damage.
- Have lawsuits popping left and right.
- Blame the parents for not watching their children.
- Lose a ton of money on a potentially sinking ship.
- Possibly have paywalls or identity verification restrictions.
- Be the reason people hate virtual reality.