Following the news that Meta has opened its virtual reality (VR) social platform Horizon Worlds to the mass market;

Emma Mohr-McClune, Technology Service Director at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, comments:

“It’s difficult to exaggerate what’s at stake here for Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook. ‘The metaverse’ is now one of the hottest buzzwords on the web, and all companies are trying to figure out where they fit. However, much hangs on how the first generation of Horizon Worlds users behave — or rather, misbehave.

“We just don’t know how the public will behave in the metaverse. Any toxic behaviour or new types of metaverse bullying, violence or hate dissemination could serve to stir the Biden administration’s desire to bring tech to task. Indeed, the metaverse may be about to have its own ‘Tay Moment’ — referring, of course, to the disastrous 2016 launch of Microsoft’s first AI chatbot Tay, which was hastily removed from the market after troll users successfully programmed it to publish offensive statements.

“However, Meta has clearly thought hard about ways to help users respond to VR harassment and other toxic behaviour. For example, its key forums have community moderators at hand. Plus, the platform also makes pains to remind users that all avatars are real people, that users may limit their exposure to certain individuals, report others for bad behaviour, and escape to a ‘Safe Zone’ by accessing a button on the main menu – an equivalent of a panic button.”