Meta Is Being Investigated Over Virtual Reality Children Safety Amongst Others

EU watchdog investigates Meta over virtual reality children safety

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is being scrutinized even more closely for its stance on child safety, and it is expected to be subjected to an investigation by the EU's watchdog in the near future.

According to a BBC report, the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is meeting with Meta to discuss how its virtual reality (VR) company, Oculus, adheres to the regulator's "children's code." Meta is expected to discuss how its virtual reality (VR) company, Oculus, adheres to the regulator's "children's code."

The goal of the guidelines is to ensure that online services to which children are likely to have access are appropriate for their use, and that they are not harmful to them.

This discussion was prompted by the discovery of evidence of underage harassment in a popular third-party virtual reality chat software by a campaign organization. The code is currently being integrated with the ICO, according to Meta, which has stated that it is working on it.

Aside from that, Baroness Beeban Kidron, the code's original author, expressed concern that the Meta platform made it far too easy for children to sign up and expose themselves to sexual content, as well as abuse and harassment from other users.

Users must have a Facebook account and, as a result, be at least 13 years old in order to participate in Meta. However, this does not imply that they will abide by the code's age restrictions in the future.

The simple act of checking a box indicating that they are of legal age to enter potentially dangerous virtual reality chatrooms may be enough to grant children access.

The watchdog is looking into whether Meta's virtual reality headsets and virtual reality services provide adequate protection for children's privacy and personal data.