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Senators urge Zuckerberg to keep teens out of the metaverse



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Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Ed Markey (D-MA) wrote a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg urging him to halt Meta’s plans to open Horizon Worlds to teens. Per a leaked memo, Meta may open access to its social VR platform for users aged 13 to 17 as early as this month.
“Any strategy to invite young users into a digital space rife with potential harms should not be driven by a goal to maximize profit,” the senators wrote. “We call on you to immediately halt Meta’s plan to bring teen users onto Horizon Worlds.”
Meta has had problems both with onboarding users to Horizon Worlds, and with keeping users protected while using the platform. After its initial rollout, some users reported being groped and sexually harassed in Horizon Worlds; Meta later rolled out a “personal boundary” feature. Though some beginner-centric experiences in Horizon Worlds have community moderators present, much of the platform can feel like a free-for-all, …

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