Christiaan Hetzner
Fri, March 3, 2023
Two U.S. senators warned Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg against alleged plans to target underage minors in a bid to salvage his all-or-nothing bet on the metaverse.
Democrats Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said Meta had earned itself a “documented track record of failure to protect children and teens” in a statement published on Thursday.
“We call on you to immediately halt Meta’s plan to bring teen users onto Horizon Worlds,” they said, referring to the virtual world that is offered as a free app.
The problem is that Zuckerberg has bet the proverbial farm on his metaverse ambitions.
According to the latest company figures, Meta’s Reality Labs division has lost a cumulative $26 billion since October 2020—a record $4.3 billion of which came in the fourth quarter alone.
Yet the Wall Street Journal reported in October that the userbase of Horizon Worlds had been shrinking since last spring, with most not returning after the first month.
Aspirations to attract half a million users were revised down to 280,000 against an actual base that didn’t even crack the 200,000 mark.
In fact, the experience turned out to be so poor that Meta itself couldn’t convince its own employees to plug themselves in.
Citing an internal memo, the Journal last month uncovered a plan for Zuckerberg to salvage his investment by lowering the age threshold from 18 to just 13 years.
This could raise a number of risks, including exposing underage minors to predators and abusers online.
“Meta has completely lost the public’s trust and this latest attempt to bring kids onto the metaverse is just another flagrant attempt to exploit young people for profit,” Markey posted to Twitter on Thursday.
Spokespeople for the social media giant, worth over $473 billion, could not be reached by Fortune for comment.
Meta opened up Horizon Worlds to the U.S. public in December 2021.
Only accessible via its virtual reality headsets, like the $400 Quest 2, it was initially restricted to U.S. and Canadian residents of 18 years or above. It has since been rolled out to users in the U.K., France and Spain.
Zuckerberg is now planning to allow users into the community that have not purchased a Quest 2 headset, even though it was meant to be an immersive experience, in a bid to attract more people.
Before Horizon Worlds’ debut, Meta already knew its built-in safety protocols were either not working or not easily understood. In November 2021 a beta tester alerted the company to the fact she had been virtually groped.
“That’s good feedback still for us, because I want to make [the blocking feature] trivially easy and finable,” Vivek Sharma, VP of Horizon Worlds at the time, told The Verge (in August he left the company, replaced by Vishal Shah).
Markey’s partner, Sen. Blumenthal, criticized Big Tech’s lacking accountability, citing the Gonzalez v. Google case currently being heard by the Supreme Court.
“Tech giants have long turned a blind eye to horrific harms and dangers on their platforms,” he wrote.
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
Democratic Senators urge Meta to halt launch of Metaverse app for teens, citing company's 'failure to protect' young users
Aidan Pollard
Thu, March 2, 2023
Breakout rooms in Meta's metaverse.Meta
Meta is preparing to open its app 'Horizon Worlds' to teens as early as this month.
Senators Ed Markey and Richard Blumenthal are calling on the company to halt plans for the app's release.
Meta, which has struggled to find users for its fledgling virtual reality Metaverse, is looking to tap into a younger base.
Two Democratic Senators are pressuring Meta to halt plans to open the Metaverse to teenagers by lowering the age limit to its "Horizon Worlds" app, criticizing the company's past handling of youth data and privacy.
In a joint letter to Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Senators Ed Markey and Richard Blumental demanded the company scrap plans to expand access to the app — a virtual reality program set in the Metaverse — for teens aged 13 to 17 as soon as this month. Currently, the app only allows users aged 18 and up.
"Meta's plan to target young people with offerings in the metaverse is particularly concerning in light of your consistent failures to protect young users," the Senators wrote. "With a documented track record of failure to protect children and teens, Meta has lost parents', pediatricians', policymakers', and the public's trust."
In a statement to Insider, a Meta spokesperson said its Quest VR platform — the virtual reality headset needed to access Horizon — "has always been designed for people ages 13+" and thus " it makes sense" for the company to expand to younger demographics.
"Teens are already spending time in a variety of VR experiences on Quest and we want to ensure that we can provide them with a great experience in Horizon Worlds as well, with age-appropriate tools and protections in place," a Meta spokesperson told Insider.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Meta plans to release the Horizon Worlds app to teens in order to expand its user base. In an internal memo cited by the Journal, Horizon vice president Gabriel Aul told staff improving user retention among youth users was a top priority.
"Today our competitors are doing a much better job meeting the unique needs of these cohorts," Aul wrote, per the Journal. "For Horizon to succeed we need to ensure that we serve this cohort first and foremost."
In their letter, Markey and Blumenthal harped on Meta's past endeavors regarding children and young adults, arguing that the company poses a threat to the well-being of American teens.
In just the last year, Meta has been hit with a barrage lawsuits that allege its platforms like Facebook and Instagram cause harm to children — including two which allege Instagram contributes to eating disorders in teens.
"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."
Sen. Markey has a track record of scrutinizing virtual reality, especially as it pertains to children. In February, he called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate companies working to build apps in the Metaverse, specifically in regard to the privacy and security of kids.
Building the Metaverse — a fledgling virtual world which allows users to interact seamlessly in what Meta likens to a new internet — has cost the company billions, the Journal reported.
But Horizon Worlds, a flagship property of the Metaverse, has struggled to find and keep users, according to the Journal. Meta is shooting for one million active Horizon users by the end of the year, the Journal reported.
Meta Chief Zuckerberg Faces Opposition From Democrat Senators Over Metaverse App Launch For Teenagers
Anusuya Lahiri
Fri, March 3, 2023
Democratic senators Ed Markey (D., Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.) urged Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ: META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg to halt the release of its Horizon Worlds metaverse app to teens ages 13 to 17.
"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," the Wall Street Journal reports citing the letter.
A spokesman for Meta said in June, Meta launched supervision tools for users of the company's Quest headsets that let parents approve, block and view the apps their teens use.
Meta's Quest virtual-reality headsets targeted people ages 13 and up who already spend time on the headset, a great experience with age-appropriate protections in place.
The senators noted a flaw in Messenger Kids that allowed users between the ages of 6 and 12 to bypass the app's age restrictions and interact with strangers.
The senators highlighted Meta's failure to stop ads for tobacco, alcohol, and eating disorders from targeting teens.
The two senators also cited the company's internal research, which found that its Instagram service was toxic for some teen girls.
The senators also emphasized collecting data on face and eye movement, physiological damage such as nausea and eyestrain, and exposure to abusive behavior like bullying, threats of violence, and sexual content.
"Meta can't protect the young people on its platforms now, so Mark Zuckerberg has no right to pull more teens into the wild west of the metaverse," Sen. Markey said in a statement to the WSJ.
Meta splurged billions of dollars building out the metaverse. In 2022 alone, the company spent $15.9 billion on its Reality Labs division. Zuckerberg has said he views the metaverse as the next frontier for computing technology.
Meta set 500,000 monthly active users as the Horizon unit's goal for the first half of 2023, with one million as the goal for the full year. Horizon's monthly active users reached just above 200,000 as of January.
Price Action: META shares traded higher by 1% at $176.28 premarket on the last check Friday.
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This article Meta Chief Zuckerberg Faces Opposition From Democrat Senators Over Metaverse App Launch For Teenagers originally appeared on Benzinga.com
Aidan Pollard
Thu, March 2, 2023
Breakout rooms in Meta's metaverse.Meta
Meta is preparing to open its app 'Horizon Worlds' to teens as early as this month.
Senators Ed Markey and Richard Blumenthal are calling on the company to halt plans for the app's release.
Meta, which has struggled to find users for its fledgling virtual reality Metaverse, is looking to tap into a younger base.
Two Democratic Senators are pressuring Meta to halt plans to open the Metaverse to teenagers by lowering the age limit to its "Horizon Worlds" app, criticizing the company's past handling of youth data and privacy.
In a joint letter to Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Senators Ed Markey and Richard Blumental demanded the company scrap plans to expand access to the app — a virtual reality program set in the Metaverse — for teens aged 13 to 17 as soon as this month. Currently, the app only allows users aged 18 and up.
"Meta's plan to target young people with offerings in the metaverse is particularly concerning in light of your consistent failures to protect young users," the Senators wrote. "With a documented track record of failure to protect children and teens, Meta has lost parents', pediatricians', policymakers', and the public's trust."
In a statement to Insider, a Meta spokesperson said its Quest VR platform — the virtual reality headset needed to access Horizon — "has always been designed for people ages 13+" and thus " it makes sense" for the company to expand to younger demographics.
"Teens are already spending time in a variety of VR experiences on Quest and we want to ensure that we can provide them with a great experience in Horizon Worlds as well, with age-appropriate tools and protections in place," a Meta spokesperson told Insider.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Meta plans to release the Horizon Worlds app to teens in order to expand its user base. In an internal memo cited by the Journal, Horizon vice president Gabriel Aul told staff improving user retention among youth users was a top priority.
"Today our competitors are doing a much better job meeting the unique needs of these cohorts," Aul wrote, per the Journal. "For Horizon to succeed we need to ensure that we serve this cohort first and foremost."
In their letter, Markey and Blumenthal harped on Meta's past endeavors regarding children and young adults, arguing that the company poses a threat to the well-being of American teens.
In just the last year, Meta has been hit with a barrage lawsuits that allege its platforms like Facebook and Instagram cause harm to children — including two which allege Instagram contributes to eating disorders in teens.
"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."
Sen. Markey has a track record of scrutinizing virtual reality, especially as it pertains to children. In February, he called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate companies working to build apps in the Metaverse, specifically in regard to the privacy and security of kids.
Building the Metaverse — a fledgling virtual world which allows users to interact seamlessly in what Meta likens to a new internet — has cost the company billions, the Journal reported.
But Horizon Worlds, a flagship property of the Metaverse, has struggled to find and keep users, according to the Journal. Meta is shooting for one million active Horizon users by the end of the year, the Journal reported.
Meta Chief Zuckerberg Faces Opposition From Democrat Senators Over Metaverse App Launch For Teenagers
Anusuya Lahiri
Fri, March 3, 2023
Democratic senators Ed Markey (D., Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.) urged Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ: META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg to halt the release of its Horizon Worlds metaverse app to teens ages 13 to 17.
"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," the Wall Street Journal reports citing the letter.
A spokesman for Meta said in June, Meta launched supervision tools for users of the company's Quest headsets that let parents approve, block and view the apps their teens use.
Meta's Quest virtual-reality headsets targeted people ages 13 and up who already spend time on the headset, a great experience with age-appropriate protections in place.
The senators noted a flaw in Messenger Kids that allowed users between the ages of 6 and 12 to bypass the app's age restrictions and interact with strangers.
The senators highlighted Meta's failure to stop ads for tobacco, alcohol, and eating disorders from targeting teens.
The two senators also cited the company's internal research, which found that its Instagram service was toxic for some teen girls.
The senators also emphasized collecting data on face and eye movement, physiological damage such as nausea and eyestrain, and exposure to abusive behavior like bullying, threats of violence, and sexual content.
"Meta can't protect the young people on its platforms now, so Mark Zuckerberg has no right to pull more teens into the wild west of the metaverse," Sen. Markey said in a statement to the WSJ.
Meta splurged billions of dollars building out the metaverse. In 2022 alone, the company spent $15.9 billion on its Reality Labs division. Zuckerberg has said he views the metaverse as the next frontier for computing technology.
Meta set 500,000 monthly active users as the Horizon unit's goal for the first half of 2023, with one million as the goal for the full year. Horizon's monthly active users reached just above 200,000 as of January.
Price Action: META shares traded higher by 1% at $176.28 premarket on the last check Friday.
Don't miss real-time alerts on your stocks - join Benzinga Pro for free! Try the tool that will help you invest smarter, faster, and better.
This article Meta Chief Zuckerberg Faces Opposition From Democrat Senators Over Metaverse App Launch For Teenagers originally appeared on Benzinga.com
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