VRChat allows kids into virtual strip clubs

Virtual reality platform VRChat was accused of providing inadequate safeguards to prevent minors from entering worlds that may contain adult themes and interactions.

A BBC report detailed a researcher's experience posing as a 13-year-old girl who witnessed child grooming, racist insults, avatars simulating having sex, and threats of rape on the platform.

Despite bans on explicit content, users were able to circumvent rules by attending private, invitation-only virtual sex clubs and engaging in erotic role play (ERP) - activities often involving the use of Bluetooth-enabled sex toys to enhance the immersive experience.

The finding prompted widespread criticism of VRChat for insufficient moderation, allowing predatory and toxic behaviour to proliferate. Users reported having to intervene to protect minors from threats and harassment due to the lack of effective oversight.

According to Andy Burrows, head of online child safety policy at the UK's NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children), VRChat 'is a product that is dangerous by design, because of oversight and neglect.'

In response, VRChat stated that it was working to make the platform safer and more welcoming. 

The fracas underscored the urgent need for more robust safety measures and effective moderation on VRChat and virtual reality platforms more generally in order to protect vulnerable users, particularly children, from exposure to harmful content and predatory behaviour.

➕  September 2023. VRChat added a "content gating" system that allows avatars and worlds to be flagged for containing adult themes, suggestive content, violence, and/or horror. All flagged content is blocked for users under the age of 18 by default.