Metaverse and Children: Ensuring a Safe Virtual Space, a Significant Challenge

Navigating Childhood in the Metaverse

Children cannot avoid using the Metaverse. Whether for immersive learning or developing creativity, it is proving to be a valuable tool. Exploring the solar system or experiencing different cultures virtually opens up new educational opportunities. It's a fortunate way for children to learn in a pedagogical manner.

Numerous games and applications already exist, such as Roblox or Winkyverse, for example.

While children can use this virtual space for self-education and to interact with others, it raises questions about its benefits.

Cyber Harassment : The Dark Side of the Metaverse

Safety concerns in the virtual world are no exception. Like in the real world, children are exposed to various risks. Cyberbullying is a well-known issue on social networks, but it could be exacerbated in the Metaverse. Avatars interact directly with others, and children may sometimes lower their guard due to the realistic nature of the environment. Virtual harassment can have significant psychological and emotional impacts on children, despite the current lack of comprehensive studies on this subject.

Moreover, this space is challenging for parents to monitor. Children navigate an unknown world without fully understanding its potential dangers.

This phenomenon is exacerbated by the anonymity of users. It is easy for a user to lie about their identity: an adult can pretend to be a child to approach others. It is really difficult to verify the accuracy of shared information, which is why the risk of fake identities is much greater than in real life. The danger is real: some cases of sexual abuse have already been reported. For instance, in January 2022 in Horizon Venues, a user was sexually abused by three other users. It is, therefore, a crucial challenge to succeed in protecting children from cyber harassment and sexual abuse.

Exploring Future Solutions: Safeguarding Tomorrow

There are many possible mechanisms for preventing cyberbullying. To ensure secure and positive experiences in a kind-hearted environment, various organizations are addressing this challenge at different levels.

The first step is finding technical solutions implemented by the games themselves. One approach is anonymity control, which can prevent users from feeling unattainable and allow policies to hold them accountable for non-compliance with the law. Additionally, implementing filtering and moderation tools is essential. Games are being modified to mitigate risks. For example, Meta has introduced options to report or block avatars and move avatars to safe zones. Meta and Microsoft now apply a protective bubble

around avatars by default, preventing strangers from approaching closer than one meter.

Another important aspect is educational campaigns, such as in-game tutorials or videos, online resources, and social media campaigns. Ethical charters already exist, and it is the responsibility of the state to make public service announcements as well.

Policies should also be enforced: it is crucial for the justice system to take real action against problematic users to protect future users and help victims recover. Currently, it is challenging to respond to cyber sexual abuse, for example, because the notion of tangibility is present in the law. The law must adapt to these new, unknown virtual worlds, such as the metaverse.

Julie Hazard Antoine