Misogyny in the metaverse: is Mark Zuckerberg’s dream world a no-go area for women?

Graphic sexual content, bullying, abuse and threats of violence are rife in the metaverse - and the NSPCC says a huge proportion of online grooming offences take place on Meta-owned products. Is it too late to change course?

Everybody knows that young women are not safe. They are not safe in the street, where 86% of those aged 18 to 24 have experienced sexual harassment. They are not safe at school, where 79% of young people told Ofsted that sexual assault was common in their friendship groups and almost a third of 16- to 18-year-old girls report experiencing unwanted sexual touching". Theyare not safe in swimming pools or parks, or at the beach. They arenot even safe online, with the children's safety charity the NSPCC reporting that social media sites arefailing to protect girls from harm at every stage".

This will come as no surprise to any woman who has ever used social media. But it is particularly relevantas Meta, the operator of some of the biggest social platformson the internet, is busily engaged in constructing a whole new world. The company is pumping billions of dollars a year into building its metaverse, a virtual world that it hopes will become the future not just of socialising, but of education, business, shopping and live events. This raises a simple question: if Meta has utterly failed to keep women and girls safe in its existing online spaces, why should we trust it with the future?