A Whole New World?

Towards a Child-Friendly Metaverse

The metaverse has the potential to transform family life and yet little work has been done to bring parents and children into the debate around the future of online safety.

This report summarises current developments in the metaverse landscape, along with early evidence of the opportunities and risks posed to children. It presents new research into what families think and feel about the metaverse, based on an original survey conducted for Internet Matters.

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Girl with pink and purple lighting exploring the metaverse with a VR headset

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Key findings

Limited understanding of the metaverse

Many families say they have little to no understanding of the metaverse

Four in 10 parents (41%) say they don’t know much, or anything, about the metaverse. Over half of children (53%) say the same.
Even fewer feel able to explain the term to someone else. Among those parents and children who have heard a lot or a little about the metaverse, 61% of parents and less than half (39%) of children would feel confident explaining it.
Overall, just 33% of parents and 15% of children know a little or a lot about the metaverse and feel confident explaining it.

Risks and opportunities

Early evidence suggests that the metaverse presents enormous opportunities for children – but also considerable risks

Key opportunities include enhanced educational content and experiences, greater access to social or cultural events and new opportunities to develop wide-ranging skills.
Key risks include exposure to harmful content, greater exploitation and abuse and the misuse of children’s personal data.

Parents play a critical role

Parents are more likely than children to identify the risks of the metaverse, meaning that they will play a critically important role in helping children to stay safe

Parents and children make similar assessments of the benefits of the metaverse, with 81% and 83% identifying one benefit respectively. 51% of parents and 56% of children identify three benefits.
Only 59% of children identify at least one concern about the metaverse, compared to 81% of parents. Just 14% of children identify three concerns, compared to over half (53%) of parents.

Must be child-friendly from the start

Parents cannot do it alone; those who are building and governing the metaverse need ensure that it is child-friendly from the start

The best interests of children need to guide the design of metaverse platforms as a primary consideration – not an afterthought.
The tech industry needs to do more to reach out to families, involving them in the design process and educate the wider public so that parents are prepared for what is to come.
Regulation, including the Online Safety Bill and Children’s Code, needs to keep pace with the metaverse as it develops so that children are not just protected in Web 2.0 environments but in Web 3.0 as well. For example, Ofcom (the forthcoming online safety regulator) should require companies offering metaverse services to identify the risks associated with (or amplified) by these in their children’s risk assessments. It should consider developing a dedicated Code of Practice for metaverse services.

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