New Delhi: Nina Jane Patel, who is the cofounder and VP of Metaverse Research at Kabuni, has alleged that she was “virtually gang raped” in Facebook’s metaverse soon after she entered the virtual world.
In a blog post on Medium, the 43-year-old woman alleged, “Within 60 seconds of joining—I was verbally and sexually harassed—3-4 male avatars, with male voices, essentially, but virtually gang-raped my avatar and took photos.”
“...as I tried to get away they yelled — “don’t pretend you didn’t love it” and “go rub yourself off to the photo,” she said, pointing out the woman safety issues in Facebook’s metaverse.
“A horrible experience that happened so fast and before I could even think about putting the safety barrier in place. I froze. It was surreal. It was a nightmare,” Patel added in her blog post.
However, this isn’t the first time Meta is faced with complaints of sexual harassment in its virtual world - metaverse. In December last year, a beta tester had also alleged sexual harassment in the metaverse.
For the unversed, the metaverse is Facebook’s supposed digital world of the future. The company is doubling down on its efforts to create the digital universe. Last year, Facebook’s name was changed to Meta to highlight its ambitions of creating a metaverse where users could do possibly everything virtually.
Meanwhile, Meta has recently announced that it’s also rolling out updated 3D Avatars to Facebook and Messenger, and for the first time Instagram Stories and DMs. The firm said that people in the US, Canada and Mexico can show up as their virtual self across apps via stickers, feed posts, Facebook profile pictures and more, IANS reported.
"We have been hard at work since then, expanding Avatars so that they better reflect the billions of unique people on this planet," Aigerim Shorman, General Manager for Avatars and Identity, said in a blogpost. Also Read: Budget 2022: As FM introduces 30% tax on virtual currency, does it indicate future of cryptocurrencies in India?
"Today we are taking that further, adding new facial shapes and assistive devices for people with disabilities," Shorman added. Also Read: Garena Free Fire Redeem codes for today, February 2: Here’s how to get free rewards
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