Facebook Metaverse player tragically molested British 43-year-old woman feeling anxious – Hong Kong unwire.hk

The metaverse game “Horizon Venues” launched by Facebook’s parent company Meta was accused of indecent assault. A 43-year-old female user in the United Kingdom was attacked by three strange men. She was scared and immediately took off her VR goggles, which caused a psychological shadow and a sense of life. anxiety.

▲The role of female victim Nina Jane Patel in “Horizon Venues”

The female victim, Nina Jane Patel, lives in Lambeth, South London, and has four children. After logging into the lobby of “Horizon Venues” as usual this month, the virtual character was immediately controlled by three strange men. Nina Jane Patel recalled: “My avatar looked like me, middle-aged, blond, wearing jeans and a long-sleeved top.” “Within 60 seconds, 3 male characters, all with male voices, came up to me and molested me… when When I knew what was going on, they had taken screenshots of their hands on me multiple times, and they even said, ‘Don’t pretend you don’t like it’.” She continued, “I tried to run away, but they followed me, and I didn’t. Knowing who they are, I don’t have time to stay and investigate.” She was so frightened that she immediately took off her blindfold.

▲ Female victim Nina Jane Patel

The metaverse is developing rapidly, and there will be equipment that simulates touch in the future. If the equipment is widely used, things may not be so simple. Following the incident, Nina Jane Patel fears for the safety of her daughter and the other ladies in the metaverse. She once witnessed a young girl character being molested by other male characters in Horizon Venues, and shouted: “She yelled ‘Stop! Let me go’, but the others (characters) just stood by”.

A Meta spokesperson responded that it will improve the way “Horizon Venues” interacts, allowing users to report events. A British lawyer said: “A woman is sexually assaulted in a virtual world, (the perpetrator) should be illegal, but it is not currently.”

As early as last month, some users complained of being molested by other users in Horizon Worlds, another metaverse world in the Meta series in November last year. Even though “Horizon Venues” has a “safe zone” where characters cannot interact with each other, and only people 18 or over are allowed to participate, Nina Jane Patel believes that supervision still needs to be strengthened. She has now developed a parent-monitored metaverse suitable for 8 to 16 year olds.