Meta's Teen Metaverse App Draws Criticism and Calls for Delay From US Democratic Senators
Two US senators, Ed Markey (D., Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.), have written a letter to Meta Platforms Inc.'s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, urging him to halt the release of Horizon Worlds, the company's upcoming metaverse app designed for 13 to 17-year-old teens. The senators cited Meta's track record of failing to protect young users and a growing body of evidence pointing to potential threats in the metaverse as reasons for their request. Meta has yet to respond to the letter, but a company spokesperson mentioned that Meta had already released supervision tools for parents to monitor and approve their teens' app usage. Meta's stock price has seen a slight increase.
According to a report by The Wall Street Journal last month, Meta's plan to expand the user base of its metaverse app, Horizon, involved opening it to teenagers as early as March. Horizon allows users to create and explore virtual worlds using avatars without legs.
Gabriel Aul, Meta's Vice President of Horizon, emphasized the importance of serving teenagers as the primary audience for Horizon in an internal company memo, stating that this was crucial for the app's success. A company spokesperson also mentioned that Meta designed its Quest virtual-reality headsets for individuals aged 13 and above and wanted to provide a positive experience for teenagers using the headset with appropriate safety measures in place.
However, Senators Markey and Blumenthal expressed concern over Meta's plan to open Horizon to teenagers, citing the company's previous failures with products aimed at children and teenagers. They specifically pointed out a flaw in Messenger Kids that allowed children aged 6 to 12 to interact with strangers on the app and Meta's inability to prevent advertisements for tobacco, alcohol, and eating disorders from targeting teenagers.
Meta responded by stating that the Messenger Kids flaw only affected a small number of group chats. The company has since taken steps to restrict advertisers' options to reach teenagers and the information used to determine which ads are shown to them.
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In addition, the two senators referenced the findings of Meta's internal research, which was reported by The Wall Street Journal in 2021, revealing that Instagram had a toxic impact on some teenage girls. Meta responded to the report by stating that Instagram has made extensive efforts to address issues related to bullying, suicide, self-injury, and eating disorders to ensure a safe environment for all users. The company also stated that its research showed some positive effects of using Instagram for some teenage girls.
Following criticism from lawmakers and other stakeholders, Meta announced suspending plans for an Instagram app designed for children.
The letter from Sens. Markey and Blumenthal noted various concerns regarding the potential risks faced by teenagers in the metaverse, such as the collection of data on facial and eye movements, physical discomforts such as nausea and eye strain, and exposure to abusive behavior such as bullying, threats of violence, and sexual content. The senators cited research conducted by the Center for Countering Digital Hate and Common Sense Media.
According to a statement given to The Wall Street Journal, Senator Markey stated that since Meta is currently unable to safeguard young individuals on its existing platforms, Mark Zuckerberg lacks the authority to draw more teenagers into the unregulated environment of the metaverse.
According to a Meta spokesman, the Quest Pro $1,500 virtual-reality headset is the only product with eye-tracking and face-tracking capabilities. The spokesman stated that Meta had implemented various safeguards for the device that prevents any "privacy invasion" from the aforementioned features and that the company has not found a clear connection between vision deterioration and VR use, as cited by the Common Sense Media report mentioned by the senators.
Meta has invested billions of dollars in constructing the metaverse, which envisions the internet as a place where users can engage in virtual environments. The Reality Labs division, which is responsible for developing the hardware and software necessary for the metaverse, received $15.9 billion in funding from the company in 2022 alone. According to Mr. Zuckerberg, the metaverse represents the next stage of computing technology.
Meta released Horizon to the public in December 2021 but has struggled to expand the metaverse app. According to an internal company memo, the Horizon unit has set 500,000 monthly active users as its goal for the first half of 2023, with one million as the target for the year. However, as of January, Horizon's monthly active user figure was just over 200,000. According to the memo, Meta plans to expand Horizon by launching a 2-D version of the metaverse that can operate on mobile and desktops during the first half of 2023.
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