Meta will create worlds for adults with semi-nude, soft drugs and violence

If there is something that characterizes the metaverse, it is the breadth of criteria and content, so the Meta announcement that it plans to include spaces for adults in its Horizon Worlds metaverse is not surprising.

The company announced this decision through an email to users who are creating digital worlds, to apply the adult content rating if they contain semi-nude, soft drugs, blood, gambling promotion.

If creators don’t update their existing worlds in the next 30 days, they “will default to 18+ regardless of the content in the world.”

Those interested can find the new ranking option in the World tab in Build Mode, and can be adjusted at any time.

Additionally, Meta has noted what content is strictly prohibited in its metaverse, regardless of whether the world is for +18. The following contents are prohibited in the list:

• Sexually explicit or provocative.
• That promotes or depicts the use of illegal drugs or the abuse of prescription drugs.
• That an apology be made for crimes or dangerous activities.
• Depicting intense, real-life violence.
• Attempting to sell, buy, or trade real-life regulated goods (guns, tobacco, alcohol).

However, not all of them are restrictions, since there is also a list of options that will be admitted in these worlds.

• Content that is sexually suggestive; for example, near nudity, depictions of people in implied or suggestive positions, or a setting focused on activities that are overly suggestive.
• Worlds that are dedicated to or have a central focus on the promotion of marijuana, alcohol, tobacco, or age-regulated activities (including gambling).
• Intense or excessively violent fictional content, including blood and gore, that may surprise or upset users.

policy change
In virtual worlds there will be greater freedom, although with restrictions.

This policy change is part of Meta’s response to the tech giant’s recent struggles to turn its virtual reality into the “safe and welcoming environment for all” that it promises in its ads.

Sexual harassment and more or less explicit representations of sex scenes are recurring problems in theaters, where minors can enter.

In January, a 43-year-old British woman reported that had been virtually groped by a gang of male avatars on Horizon Venues. In December, another woman claimed to have been virtually groped at Horizon Worlds.

Now, aware of the difficulty of opening doors to the field and closing all spaces with inappropriate content one by one, Meta trusts, among other things, in the sincerity of its creators.

Vivek Sharma, vice president of Horizon, explained on his blog that Personal Boundary will create “more personal space for people and make it easier to avoid unwanted interactions.”

“If someone tries to enter your Personal Limit, the system will stop their progress when they reach the limit. You won’t feel it, there is no haptic feedback,” he writes.