The U.K. Online Safety Bill, which seeks to protect children from harm online, will also apply to the metaverse, according to a Wednesday agreement by lawmakers in the House of Lords. The bill, which was brought forward on March 17, is nearing the final stages of approval before passing into law.
The metaverse, a superset of virtual realities, has become increasingly popular in recent years, with social media giant Facebook even rebranding to Meta to show its commitment to the sector. However, the potential harm children can face in these virtual reality experiences has been a cause for concern for some regulators. “These virtual reality experiences are very immersive and the degree of harm that can be created and indeed the degree of enjoyment can be that much more intense,” said Melanie Dawes, CEO at Ofcom, the U.K.’s communications regulator.
The Centre for Countering Digital Hate found that minors are routinely harassed through filming and analyzing 100 visits to the most popular worlds in Meta’s flagship platform, Horizon Worlds. This has led to the House of Lords arguing that it is significant to ensure that the Online Safety Bill applies to the metaverse. “The metaverse is in scope of the bill, which, as noble Lords know, has been designed to be technology neutral and future-proofed to ensure that it keeps pace with emerging technologies,” said Lord Stephen Parkinson, a minister at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
The bill applies to “anything communicated by means of an internet service,” which includes things like objects or avatars created by users as well as interactions between users in the metaverse, Parkinson said.