The types of material that are permitted in the virtual worlds that users build for Horizon Worlds, Meta’s platform that enables individuals to create VR spaces for shared experiences, are being expanded. The firm has revised its rules to permit creators to incorporate “mature” content that was previously outright forbidden and introduced an 18 and above classification for user-created environments. According to UploadVR, creators who have published worlds have gotten an email informing them that if they don’t manually label their world as adult or safe for all audiences, it would be automatically limited to those who are 18 and older.
According to a Wayback Machine record of Meta’s April Horizon Mature Worlds Policy page, this indicates that Meta is now permitting previously prohibited material. The website used to state that portrayals of “restricted commodities or activities” like marijuana and alcohol, as well as sexually explicit or brutally violent material, were totally prohibited in Horizon Worlds. Now, if you designate it as mature, you might be able to include those kinds of things in your world.
Of course, there are still limitations. Let’s dissect those.
The inclusion of “sexually suggestive” material, such as “near nudity, images of persons in suggested or suggestive poses, or an atmosphere focused on activities that are too suggestive,” is permitted if you identify your word as adult. However, you aren’t allowed to engage in outright pornography; instead, you must avoid “nudity, portrayals of individuals in explicit situations, or material or settings that are sexually suggestive or suggested.”
The same holds true for both violence and controlled drugs. However, you cannot market “illegal substances or misuse of prescription medications” in mature environments that are devoted to or centered on “the promotion of marijuana, alcohol, cigarettes, or age-regulated activities (including gambling).” Real-life violence cannot be depicted, even though “intense or extremely violent fictitious material” with blood and gore “that might shock or disgust consumers” is permitted.
There are a lot of locations where the lines are fuzzy, as you may have seen. When it comes to sex, how suggestive is too suggestive? Additionally, marijuana is prohibited in several states in the US. For a business that sees metaverse moderation as essential to its survival, Meta is undoubtedly setting itself up for problems to arise with authors who want to push the envelope.
As stated on its policy page, Meta has experienced difficulties ensuring that Horizon is a “safe and inviting place for everyone.” After receiving reports that players were imitating sexual harassment during the game’s beta, it added a feature that by default stops other users from placing their avatars too near to yours. The addition of a function that makes people’s voices incomprehensible if you’re not friends with them may help prevent harassment in online public areas.