Not in any way defending Meta’s approach to the Metaverse, which is an absolute shitshow in all respects, but I have to ask - where are these reporters going to experience these things? I’ve spent a fair amount of time in Horizon Venues, and less time in Horizon Worlds (it’s really, really boring), but certainly way more than ten minutes - and I’ve never seen or experienced anything like the behavior this and other reporters describe. The closest I’ve come is getting a handful of unwanted friend requests from people I’ve walked close enough to for the software to decide that I’ve had an “interaction” with, but I just ignore those. I’m sure there are corners of the virtual world that ARE just as terrible as described, but it seems like you have to actually look for them. How much of this kind of reporting is just Seduction of the Innocent all over again, I wonder?
Yeah, never mentioning the names of the apps she was using or any kind of information that could be followed up on or fact checked kinda destroys any journalistic merit the article might have. The internet is a cesspool and I have no doubt the writer had a terrible experience and that the spaces she entered had terrible moderation, but without naming apps this tells me nothing about anything, much less about Meta
ETA: I haven’t used any of Meta’s multiuser spaces, and only briefly dabbled in other multiuser VR stuff years ago (RecRoom, VRChat), since online multiuser anything is not really interesting to me even outside of VR. I also recognize that someone identifying online as a woman is going to have a very different experience from a harassment standpoint than I will. It’s the lack of specifics in the article that I find odd. Maybe the actual show is more detailed?
I imagine that will certainly make a difference, but whether it’s happening directly to me or someone I’m sharing the space with, I’d still see it happening if it was as pervasive as implied by this article. And I haven’t, nothing even remotely like it. Also not mentioned in the article is the fact that literally every social vr app allows you to instantly block anyone who might be harassing you. Users have total control over their experience in VR. But breathless articles about the new “pedophile” hunting grounds (that word is a red flag for scare-mongering already) generate more clicks than discussing how to make the experience better, I suppose.
Nearly every online space has elements of racism, misogyny, etc. It exists in the real world too. 
It does make me wonder if we should simply (I realize it’s not quite that simple) apply the physical world laws about liability on private property to on-line private spaces. 
Define “private” to include on-line services run for profit, be it by direct payment or indirectly by exploitation of behavioural data.
For example, if I lured “customers” onto my physical property, and I knowingly permitted that property to be used by criminally-minded people who assaulted them, I would very likely be held more than a wee bit liable in court.
I realize this would have knock-on effects for spaces like BB BBS… The approach would have the advantage of an existing body of precedent from which to draw decisions. Jurisdictional questions would be interesting to settle.
Meta physical: Facebook parent to open its first real-world store
In a move sure to reassure those pushing for an all-virtual future, Facebook-owner Meta has announced it’s opening its first physical store.
Opening May 9 at Meta’s campus in Burlingame, California, near its Menlo Park headquarters, the Meta Store will be an interactive demo space where visitors can experiment with the US giant’s Portal smart home devices and Quest 2 VR headsets as well as Ray-Ban Stories. Unlike the Portal and Quest 2 kit, the Ray-Ban-branded gear won’t be sold at the Meta Store, though, and users will be directed online to purchase them. Meta also announced the addition of a Shop tab on its meta.com website.
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We do largely treat those spaces in similar ways, honestly.
German regulator steps up monitoring of Facebook parent Meta
The Federal Cartel Office has said it will subject Meta to stricter competition controls for years to come. The regulator’s boss, Andreas Mundt, told DW the latest move would help them respond quickly to any possible anti-competitive practices by the social media giant.
Facebook deliberately took down Australian government pages during pay-for-news negotiations: report
Facebook whistleblowers have alleged that the company deliberately took down the presences of Australian government and emergency services organizations during negotiations on the nation’s landmark pay-to-link-to-news laws.
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Meta’s ad transparency tools will soon reveal another treasure trove of data: advertiser targeting choices for political, election-related, and social issue spots.
Meta said it plans to add the targeting data into its Facebook Open Research and Transparency (FORT) environment for academic researchers at the end of May.
The move comes a day after Meta’s reputation as a bad data custodian resurfaced with news of a lawsuit filed in Washington DC against CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Yesterday’s filing alleges Zuckerberg built a company culture of mishandling data, leading directly to the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The suit seeks to hold Zuckerberg responsible for the incident, which saw millions of users’ data harvested and used to influence the 2016 US presidential election.
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hmmmmm, funny that.
The report mentioned in the article on the toxic cesspool known as Metaverse.
Buh-bye
Birds, feathers, flocking, you know the drill.
That old episode of Law & Order about crime in Second Life is on again
The technology has not advanced a bit in 20 years
