Senators urge Meta not to open Horizon Worlds up to younger teens<p>Two senators have urged Mark Zuckerberg not to open up Meta's Horizon Worlds to younger teenagers. In early February, <a data-i13n="cpos:1;pos:1" href="
https://www.engadget.com/meta-open-horizon-worlds-younger-teens-march-131930554.html">
reports suggested[/url] the company could allow those aged 13 to 17 to use the app as soon as this month in a bid to bolster the userbase and perhaps help justify the billions of dollars Meta has plowed into its metaverse efforts. Horizon Worlds is currently only <a data-i13n="cpos:2;pos:1" href="
https://www.engadget.com/horizon-worlds-now-available-us-canada-192520479.html">
officially available to adults[/url].</p><p>Democratic Sens. Ed Markey and Richard Blumenthal urged Zuckerberg to halt plans to bring the app to under-18s. “In light of your company’s record of failure to protect children and teens and a growing body of evidence pointing to threats to young users in the metaverse, we urge you to halt this plan immediately,” their letter reads, according to <a data-i13n="elm:affiliate_link;sellerN:The Wall Street Journal;elmt:;cpos:3;pos:1" href="
https://shopping.yahoo.com/rdlw?merchantId=2f007401-3eaa-4237-b69b-54ccbe125502&siteId=us-engadget&pageId=1p-autolink&featureId=text-link&merchantName=The+Wall+Street+Journal&custData=eyJzb3VyY2VOYW1lIjoiV2ViLURlc2t0b3AtVmVyaXpvbiIsInN0b3JlSWQiOiIyZjAwNzQwMS0zZWFhLTQyMzctYjY5Yi01NGNjYmUxMjU1MDIiLCJsYW5kaW5nVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cud3NqLmNvbS9hcnRpY2xlcy9kZW1vY3JhdGljLXNlbmF0b3JzLWNhbGwtb24tbWV0YS10by1zdG9wLXBsYW4tdG8tcmVsZWFzZS1tZXRhdmVyc2UtYXBwLXRvLXRlZW5zLWUxOTZiNWRhP21vZD1lMnR3ZCIsImNvbnRlbnRVdWlkIjoiYjQwNzcxNDYtNDQxMS00ZjI3LTk4ODEtMzE0YTExYWE5OTNkIn0&signature=AQAAAcKfHrezSBsrEDM94jAqPZDoFLz8kv4R0yzn5EM-wV6G&gcReferrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsj.com%2Farticles%2Fdemocratic-senators-call-on-meta-to-stop-plan-to-release-metaverse-app-to-teens-e196b5da%3Fmod%3De2twd" class="rapid-with-clickid">
The Wall Street Journal[/url].</p><span id="end-legacy-contents"></span><p>The senators are said to have highlighted a number of concerns regarding Meta's track record on protecting younger users, as well as research on possible dangers of the metaverse. They noted previous issues such as <a data-i13n="cpos:4;pos:1" href="
https://www.engadget.com/2019-08-06-facebook-childrens-privacy-safety-concerns.html">
a Messenger Kids bug[/url] that allowed children aged between six and 12 to bypass age restrictions and talk to strangers in some cases.</p><p>The duo cited reports from 2021 regarding Meta's internal research, which indicated that Instagram was a <a data-i13n="cpos:5;pos:1" href="
https://www.engadget.com/facebook-instagram-teen-safety-research-212546087.html">
harmful platform for many teens[/url], especially girls. Meta responded to the reports by claiming the research also showed that some girls felt positive effects of using Instagram and that the app's team had done a lot of work on issues like bullying and self-harm to make it a safer space. Nevertheless, Meta put plans for an Instagram Kids app <a data-i13n="cpos:6;pos:1" href="
https://www.engadget.com/facebook-is-pausing-work-on-instagram-kids-app-124639135.html">
on hold[/url] following a backlash.</p><p>The senators additionally cited research from <a data-i13n="cpos:7;pos:1" href="
https://www.commonsensemedia.org/sites/default/files/featured-content/files/metaverse-white-paper-1.pdf">
Common Sense Media[/url] in noting that using virtual reality headsets to access metaverse experiences can induce nausea and eye strain, and also impact users' privacy. The letter pointed to Center for Countering Digital Hate <a data-i13n="cpos:8;pos:1" href="
https://counterhate.com/research/facebooks-metaverse/">
research[/url] suggesting that users of VRChat, a popular social platform available on Quest headsets, can expose users to abusive behavior every seven minutes.</p><p>Following the reports about it bringing Horizon Worlds to younger users, Meta noted that its Quest headsets are designed for users aged 13 and older. As such, a spokesperson <a data-i13n="elm:affiliate_link;sellerN:The Wall Street Journal;elmt:;cpos:9;pos:1" href="
https://shopping.yahoo.com/rdlw?merchantId=2f007401-3eaa-4237-b69b-54ccbe125502&siteId=us-engadget&pageId=1p-autolink&featureId=text-link&merchantName=The+Wall+Street+Journal&custData=eyJzb3VyY2VOYW1lIjoiV2ViLURlc2t0b3AtVmVyaXpvbiIsInN0b3JlSWQiOiIyZjAwNzQwMS0zZWFhLTQyMzctYjY5Yi01NGNjYmUxMjU1MDIiLCJsYW5kaW5nVXJsIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cud3NqLmNvbS9hcnRpY2xlcy9tZXRhLXRvLXJldmFtcC1ob3Jpem9uLW1ldGF2ZXJzZS1hcHAtcGxhbnMtdG8tb3Blbi1mb3ItdGVlbi11c2UtYXMtc29vbi1hcy1tYXJjaC0xMTY3NTc0OTIyMz9tb2Q9YXJ0aWNsZV9pbmxpbmUiLCJjb250ZW50VXVpZCI6ImI0MDc3MTQ2LTQ0MTEtNGYyNy05ODgxLTMxNGExMWFhOTkzZCJ9&signature=AQAAAajXeSgYLRKy97_9kG-7kfiIeAf4uLLuVt6vdEtz1mZe&gcReferrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.wsj.com%2Farticles%2Fmeta-to-revamp-horizon-metaverse-app-plans-to-open-for-teen-use-as-soon-as-march-11675749223%3Fmod%3Darticle_inline" class="rapid-with-clickid">
indicated[/url] that it made sense to offer Horizon Worlds experiences to younger teens with "age-appropriate tools and protections in place."</p><p>Horizon's monthly active user figures are said to have hovered just north of 200,000 as of January. Meta reportedly hopes to increase that number to half a million by the end of June and a million by the end of the year. An internal memo indicated that the company sees younger users as the key to helping it reach those goals. Meta also <a data-i13n="elm:affiliate_link;sellerN:;elmt:;cpos:10;pos:1" href="
https://shopping.yahoo.com/rdlw?siteId=us-engadget&pageId=1p-autolink&featureId=text-link&custData=eyJzb3VyY2VOYW1lIjoiV2ViLURlc2t0b3AtVmVyaXpvbiIsImxhbmRpbmdVcmwiOiJodHRwczovL3d3dy5tZXRhLmNvbS9ibG9nL3F1ZXN0L21ldGEtaG9yaXpvbi13b3JsZHMtbWVtYmVycy1vbmx5LWFscGhhLXRlc3QvIiwiY29udGVudFV1aWQiOiJiNDA3NzE0Ni00NDExLTRmMjctOTg4MS0zMTRhMTFhYTk5M2QifQ&signature=AQAAAUNSBOymCi_ji1RmIA-TyOLgYY1JnS7WuoWS2fUHfF4G&gcReferrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.meta.com%2Fblog%2Fquest%2Fmeta-horizon-worlds-members-only-alpha-test%2F" class="rapid-with-clickid">
plans[/url] to release mobile and web versions of Horizon soon.</p>This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/senators-urge-meta-not-to-open-horizon-worlds-up-to-younger-teens-161159421.html?src=rssSource:
Senators urge Meta not to open Horizon Worlds up to younger teens
