Social media company Meta is getting some pushback on its plan to market and bring Horizon Worlds, its flagship metaverse app, to teens. Democratic Senators Ed Markey and Richard Blumenthal wrote to the company to stop these actions, citing concerns about the interactions teenagers could have in Meta’s virtual worlds.
Meta sees opposition to metaverse adoption plans for teens
Two Democratic senators have written a letter asking Meta to stop their recently reported plan to open up their metaverse world to teens. Ed Markey and Richard Blumenthal, Democratic Senators from Massachusetts and Connecticut, are critical of the idea of opening Horizon Worlds, Meta’s flagship metaverse app, to teens ages 13 and older, citing various factors that could put them at risk through interactions available in this virtual world.
The letter differentiates between standard VR experiences and Horizon Worlds, explaining that “the cumulative set of immersive VR experiences a teen would face in socially driven Horizon Worlds is distinct from wearing a VR headset to, say, play a specific single-player game. Inviting young adolescents into this environment therefore presents serious risks.”
Markey and Blumenthal are calling for a halt to the plan to protect the health of these young users and their privacy in the metaverse, calling out the company for its past missteps involving this demographic.
Meta’s Teen Adoption Drive
The Wall Street Journal reported about Meta’s plan to include teens in his metaverse on February 7. According to an internal memo obtained by the news outlet, the company’s new strategy included opening up the Horizon Worlds experience to teens ages 13 and up. This would constitute a change from the app’s current policies, which only allow users over the age of 18 to roam the virtual world.
According to WSJ, Meta’s memo reinforces the need to bring these services to young users in order to continue growing. Horizon Worlds Vice President Gabriel Aul reportedly stated:
Today, our competitors are doing a much better job of meeting the unique needs of these cohorts. For Horizon to be successful, we must ensure that we serve this cohort first and foremost.
While Horizon Worlds saw rapid growth in its early stages, increasing its user base tenfold shortly after launching in December 2021, the app has been criticized for its flawed state even by Meta employees themselves. In October, Metaverse VP Vishal Shah acknowledged that problems with the app were hindering the experience for its users and that even the company’s employees weren’t spending much time using it.
What do you think about the opposition Meta is experiencing regarding bringing Horizon Worlds to teens? Tell us in the comment section below.
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