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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Is Horizon Worlds Dangerous for Children

Is Horizon Worlds Dangerous for children is a question that is being questioned more and more often. In the last few days, reports of sexual assault and sexual harassment in the virtual reality platform are making headlines as parent company Meta Platforms seems oblivious to the potential dangers.

Is Horizon Worlds Dangerous for Children

To be fair, users are required to have a Facebook account before joining Horizon Worlds, and the requirement for a Facebook account is a minimum of 13 years of age. Horizon Worlds states that it has an age requirement of 18 years; however, for anyone who has visited the platform, there is no doubt that many of the players are much younger than required. You can hear it in their voices.

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According to several early reports, either parents ignore this requirement or young kids use their parents’ accounts to explore Horizon Worlds. Many adult users report that the virtual spaces frequently become unusable because of an abundance of kids, being loud, inappropriate and basically running amok.

Is Horizon Worlds dangerous for children? Almost every child psychologist and behavioral expert asked concluded the potential dangers are staggering. The goal of virtual reality platforms such as Horizon Worlds is to meet and interact with other users in the most in-person simulated way possible.

Is Horizon Worlds Dangerous for Children

To directly quote Nick Clegg, president of global affairs at Meta Platforms, from his recent blog post, “In the physical world, as well as the internet, people shout and swear and do all kinds of unpleasant things that aren’t prohibited by law, and they harass and attack people in ways that are. People who want to misuse technologies will always find ways to do it.”

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So is Horizon Worlds dangerous for children? It sounds like the president of global affairs at Meta Platforms is aware of many unpleasant user experiences. It also appears that answering the question of is Horizon Worlds dangerous for children is not a concern to those in charge of the platform.

So is Horizon Worlds dangerous for children? Decide for yourself but consider these important factors. Children on the platform are talking and interacting with strangers, many of who may be sexual predators. Reports of sexual assault, sexual harassment, and grouping are growing in numbers. Some significant shareholders put forth a proposal for a third-party assessment to determine if the company could mitigate these misuses.

In the exact words, they proposed a study of “potential psychological and civil and human rights harms to users that may be caused by the use and abuse of the platform.” The proposal did not pass at the shareholder meeting, not to anyone’s surprise. Is Horizon Worlds dangerous for children? This is a question many quickly answer yes; however, the owners and creators of the platform prefer to stay silent when asked.

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Is Horizon Worlds Dangerous for Children

One recent study focused on elementary school-aged children and virtual reality pointed out that the children had difficulty separating what happened in real life from what happened in VR. Because events in virtual reality are so much more immersive, the content is much more impactful to their developing minds than what they see in video games or movies.

Consider that when watching a movie, you are watching someone or something chase a character on a screen. In virtual reality, that person or thing is actually chasing you in what seems to be real space. And there is a sensation that is connected with someone touching you.

Is Horizon World dangerous for children? Some experts believe it is potentially more dangerous than the real world. Children have a false sense of security in the virtual reality world because they are physically in the comfort of their homes. Studies prove that children share personal information and trust the information they are being given much easier than adults.

And let’s not forget the exposure to sexual content and violence. No one disputes that seeing violence or sexual content in virtual reality is more impactful than seeing it in movies or video games. And there are two more things to consider when answering the question is Horizon World dangerous for children.

First, since the platform’s goal is to have people interact online, you can’t play offline, and chat cannot be turned off. There are no controls on foul language, screaming, bullying, or harassment. Also, the Oculus headset that is required to participate does temporarily record interactions, but those recordings will be quickly recorded over. The only way they are saved is if a user reports something. That means there is often no record of negative, hurtful, or scary interactions your child has experienced.

Is Horizon World dangerous for children? Parents should strive to keep kids off Horizon Worlds due to their lack of safety features and parental controls for all these reasons and more. If adults are reporting more and more explicit sexual content, sexual assault, harassment, and bullying, think of what your child may be exposed to before you hand over the headset.

Read more – Who’s Watching You? Amazon Ring Devices Are Being Hacked?

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