Last October, Facebook announced that it wanted to spend a tidy sum and hire 10,000 people to properly prepare its metaverse. A few days later, Marck Zuckerberg unveiled the name change of his company: Meta. Everything is linked\u2026 While the beta version of the metaverse of Meta has been launched since December 9, 2021 in the United States and Canada, this virtual world which is supposed to embody the future is already at the heart of controversy. Sexual harassment and fondling\u2026 And this is only the beginning?<\/p>\n
If Mark Zuckerberg sold us his metaverse as a benevolent virtual and social world, it is far from being the case. As it is a reality created from scratch where everything is possible, some believe that everything is permitted. Feeling protected by this \u201cvirtual\u201d side, surely. After a few days of testing Horizon Worlds<\/em>Meta’s virtual reality social platform, women have pointed out inappropriate behavior: sexual harassment, touching… In short, even in a fictional world, it’s not good to be a woman.<\/p>\n Well, we already knew that. Many will be able to testify to the sexual harassment they have suffered online. Whether it’s on social networks, in a video game or elsewhere. But when you are a victim of sexual harassment in virtual reality, it takes a whole different turn.<\/p>\n A beta tester talked about her experience in the official Facebook group of Horizon Worlds<\/em>. \u201cOnline sexual harassment is never fun, but experiencing it in virtual reality adds a layer that makes it even more intense. I was not only groped last night but there were also people present who were supportive of this behavior which made me feel isolated in the Plaza\u201d<\/em>she explains.<\/p>\n The question of security in the metaverse is therefore more than ever at the heart of the debates. For the Vice President of Horizon Worlds<\/em>, this is an unfortunate isolated incident. He blames the user, explaining that she had not simply not activated the protection mode which allows to define a security zone around her avatar. Yes, but should you take precautions even in the metaverse to avoid sexual harassment?<\/p>\n Alas, this is not the only testimony to the excesses of the metaverse of Meta. Bloomberg reporter Parmy Olson also shared her unpleasant experience as a woman in Mark Zuckerberg’s virtual world. \u201cConnecting to others in virtual reality is fun and exhilarating, but it’s also intense, tiring and sometimes embarrassing. Going there as a woman was very uncomfortable on several occasions\u201d<\/em> she confides in an article.<\/p>\n She explains that when she arrived at the central point of the map, she was the only woman surrounded by a dozen male avatars. Some stuck to her so well that a group of people formed around her. Without saying a word. Annoying. Some watched her avatar, waving, allowing them to take pictures of her alter ego, while she simply learned to jump into this virtual world. As if they had nothing better to do in a universe where everything is possible!<\/p>\n After only a few days of testing, the conclusion is very sad. What will happen once the metaverse is officially launched all over the world? Will women have to opt for avatars that don’t look like them at all to be able to browse this virtual reality freely?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last October, Facebook announced that it wanted to spend a tidy sum and hire 10,000 people to properly prepare its metaverse. A few days later, Marck Zuckerberg unveiled the name change of his company: Meta. Everything is linked\u2026 While the beta version of the metaverse of Meta has been launched since December 9, 2021 in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":163534,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38656],"tags":[38657,13731,31733,35063,23050,27782,23067,11451],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.presse-citron.net\/app\/uploads\/2021\/12\/metavers-meta-parmy-olson.jpg?fit=1400%2C932&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imageantra.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163532"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imageantra.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imageantra.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imageantra.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imageantra.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163532"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.imageantra.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163532\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":163533,"href":"https:\/\/www.imageantra.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163532\/revisions\/163533"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imageantra.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.imageantra.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imageantra.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.imageantra.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}The metaverse, an uncomfortable experience as a woman<\/h2>\n