When I was a teenager, social media was just emerging, so there weren’t many restrictions on access. Now the rules – and results their absence – it’s everywhere, the latest example comes courtesy of Meta (a case study of all the good and bad social media has to offer). Meta has announced its launch Horizon Worlds to teenagers with parent-approved access to a Meta account.
Anyone between the ages of 10 and 12 can soon claim access to a VR game and explore different worlds like a Space Station or a Castle. Each world also receives an age rating of 10+, 13+, or 18+, with those in the latter category not listed as an option for anyone 17 or younger. Parents can either approve all worlds in a certain age bracket, select specific ones, or wait for their child to submit a request.
Additional security features Horizon Worlds includes disabling voice chat for everyone except parent-approved contacts for minors, no tracking suggestions, and automatic offline status and visibility settings — something only a parent can change. All parent-managed accounts will also be permanent personal boundary feature enabled to prevent other avatars from getting too close. Additionally, anyone using a Meta Quest 2 or 3 headset will need to re-enter their birthday before playing.
As these measures are thought out, parents and guardians may not want to trust that Meta will take care of everything without a doubt. The company hardly put youth welfare at the forefront of its decisions, with lawmakers criticizing (and suing) Meta for ignoring it. Almost every state in the United States participated Claims about meta locks teenagers onto their platforms and repeatedly promotes safety features while ignoring pleas from staff to devote more time and resources to protecting children. We dig deep into all of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s dangerous decisions (including the company’s minimal efforts to prevent adults from sexually assaulting children on Facebook and Instagram). available here.
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