Disturbing accounts of women being sexually assaulted and harassed in the metaverse are racking up, according to online watchdogs.
One 21-year-old woman says she was raped within one hour of being in the metaverse, according to a a new report from SumOfUs, a “nonprofit advocacy organization and online community that campaigns to hold corporations accountable” for a variety of alleged infractions.
The report — titled “Metaverse: another cesspool of toxic content” — takes a deep dive into allegations of a woman being “virtually gang raped,” hate speech and content moderation issues at Meta, the controversial rebrand of Facebook Inc.
The young woman, who works as a researcher for the group‚ was led into a private room at a party on “Horizon Worlds,” a metaverse platform released by Meta last December in the US and Canada that allows users to gather with others, play games and build their own virtual worlds.
She has claimed her avatar was then raped by a user while another watched and passed around a virtual bottle of vodka — and others could be seen watching through a window.
In a chilling video clip released by SumOfUs, one avatar is recorded saying, “Check this out. It’s a free show. Oh, getting it. Getting down with that gritty, ya heard.” Meanwhile, the bystander avatar responds with, “You’re gonna need more of this, shorty,” while passing the virtual booze bottle around. “Hey a free show!” the avatar is then heard shouting.
SumOfUs / Horizon Worlds
SumOfUs / Horizon Worlds
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