Meta's Horizon Worlds Adds 18+ Tag: Opening The Doors To Mature VR Content

Horizon Worlds 18+

It has been predicted, and it's unavoidable. Meta that knows it too, has no choice but to follow.

Horizon Worlds has been a way where people can create virtual reality spaces for shared experiences. While the VR world is not safe for children, Meta that has made it clear about what's allowed and what's not, expands some of the things it previously prohibited.

And that is adult content.

Meta is expanding that type of content, and making it allowed in its virtual world.

To do this, the company has added an 18 and up tag for user-created worlds, and has also updated its Horizon Mature Worlds Policy page to allow creators to include "mature" content that was previously banned altogether.

Before this, Horizon Worlds' policy said that sexually suggestive content, depictions of "regulated goods or activities" like marijuana and alcohol, and graphically violent content were completely forbidden.

After the updated policy, creators who have created virtual worlds in Meta's VR space, have received an email saying that they have to manually mark whether their world is mature or safe for all audiences.

If they don't do anything, Meta will automatically restrict their worlds to 18 and up by default.

In other words, Meta is finally allowing adult content on the platform.

However, the doors to that type of content is not fully opened, because there are indeed some restrictions.

For example, creators that have mark their world as mature, can include "sexually suggestive" content, such as "near nudity, depictions of people in implied or suggestive positions, or an environment focused on activities that are overly suggestive."

Meta said that "nudity, depictions of people in explicit positions, or content or worlds that are sexually provocative or implied" are prohibited.

In other words, pornography is not allowed.

Horizon Mature Worlds Policy
Screenshot of the updated Horizon Mature Worlds Policy page.

The same goes for regulated substances and violence.

Creators can include "the promotion of marijuana, alcohol, tobacco, or age-regulated activities (including gambling)," but they cannot promote "illegal drugs or abuse of prescription drugs."

While the virtual worlds can be designed to have "intense or excessively violent fictional content" with blood and gore "that could shock or disgust users," creators are not allowed to show real-life violence.

So here, the lines are indeed blurry.

Content that include nudity is banned in many countries, and is considered a norm in some other countries. The same goes to marijuana, which is an illegal drug in many places.

For a company that views metaverse moderation as something critical to its success, Meta is definitely making room for possible issues with creators who wish to push beyond 13 years old's content.

Regardless, Meta is confident that its Horizon Worlds is a "safe and welcoming environment for everyone."

Before this, Meta has introduced a personal boundary that by default, prevents other users from getting their avatars too close to others after complaints that people had been experiencing sexual harassment during the virtual world's beta version.

BBC researcher entered the metaverse
Some of the things in the metaverse aren't suitable for children. (Credit: BBC)

Many online services provide minimum age for users.

For example, Facebook and most other social media platforms require users to be at least 13 years old. This restriction can be traced back to a law made in the 1990s, that prohibits the tracking and data collection of children. Other platforms and services may have different age requirement.

As for Horizon Worlds, it was intended to be for people aged 18 and above.

The thing is, there is no way to guarantee that people will comply.

Early users and researchers have found multiple instances where younger children are present on the platform, despite the age rating.

A report by The Institution of Engineering and Technology stated that children who were present in various platforms including Horizon Worlds, some were "as young as 6."

Partly, this is because users of VR headsets can include children. But if parents' Facebook or Oculus account are connected to the headset, children can use that to access Horizon Worlds.

Published: 
23/07/2022