Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) sent a letter to Meta on Wednesday urging the company against changing policies that keep the virtual reality (VR) platform Horizon Worlds restricted to users 18 and older.
“In light of your company’s record of failure to protect children and teens and a growing body of evidence pointing to threats to young users in the metaverse, we urge you to halt this plan immediately,” they wrote.
The letter comes after The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Meta, which also owns Facebook and Instagram, is revamping its Horizon Worlds app in an effort to draw in more teen users. The strategy includes opening the app up to teens 13 to 17, according to a memo cited by the Journal.
A Meta spokesperson declined to comment on the letter. In response to the Journal’s original reporting, a company spokesperson said that the “Quest platform has always been designed for people ages 13+, so it makes sense we’d plan to introduce experiences for that audience in Horizon.”
“Teens are already spending time in a variety of VR experiences on Quest and we want to ensure that we can provide them with a great experience in Horizon Worlds as well, with age-appropriate tools and protections in place,” they added.
The letter is the latest form of scrutiny from lawmakers over how Meta operates for teens online, an issue that was highlighted when company whistleblower Frances Haugen came forward in October 2021.
Meta isn’t the only tech company that’s been under fire. TikTok, an increasingly popular video sharing app, has faced backlash over its safety protocols in place for young users, as well.
TikTok on Wednesday announced new default features for teens, including a 60-minute daily screen time limit, seemingly in response to critics that said the app is addictive and leads to excessive screen time especially for young users.
Those limits, though, are just part of the change TikTok and other apps need to make, founder and CEO at Common Sense Media James Steyer said in a statement.
“The new features, particularly the screen time limits, are definitely a positive step to create a safer space for teens and families, but TikTok also needs to go further,” Steyer said.
“We urge TikTok and all social media companies to be proactive in putting all the necessary safeguards in place instead of waiting to be reined in by Congress and the states,” he added.
