Meta Virtual Reality Child Abuse
If you suspect your child was abused on Meta’s virtual reality platforms, Helping Survivors can put you in touch with experienced legal partners. They operate on a contingency basis – no fees unless they win. These firms are prepared to file civil claims against any individuals, institutions, or corporations whose negligence contributed to your child’s harm.
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Author: Kathryn Kosmides
Survivor Advocate
- Virtual reality games and communal online spaces allow users to interact with each other freely, but these environments create extreme risks for minor users who could be exploited or groomed by predatory adults.
- Meta, the parent company of social media giants Facebook and Instagram, has its own virtual reality system and spaces, including Horizon Worlds. Whistleblowers from the company have reported that Meta knows child abuse occurs on these platforms, but ignores that fact in pursuit of profit.
- If you or a loved one experienced sexual harassment, exploitation, or grooming as a minor on a Meta virtual reality platform, you have legal rights and options for holding the responsible parties accountable.
Virtual reality, or VR, platforms such as Meta’s Horizon Worlds use special headsets to give users access to a 3D computer-simulated environment where they can play games, chat with other users, and more. As VR platforms become more accessible to and popular among children and teenagers, the issue of child abuse, grooming, and sexual exploitation in the metaverse has gained increasing attention.
Despite the growing issue, research into online victimization in the metaverse is lacking, as is legislation to protect minor users. A 2024 study by Florida Atlantic University found that a significant percentage of youth reported experiencing various forms of harm in VR spaces, including hate speech, bullying, harassment, grooming, and unwanted exposure to violent or sexual content.
Meta’s Virtual Reality Platforms and Child Safety Risks
Virtual reality uses graphics, hardware, and artistically rendered experiences to create a digitally simulated environment where users become fully absorbed in 3D worlds. Meta Quest is one VR product that gives users access to these worlds, including Meta’s own VR universe, Horizon Worlds. The Meta Quest Apps lab offers more than 1,000 different applications for gaming, collaboration, and more.
Recently, lowered age restrictions and cheaper VR headsets have led to young children “hijacking the metaverse,” causing Horizon Worlds and other online social spaces to become inundated with child users. Many experts believe that this was an intentional design choice by Meta. In April 2023, Meta opened Horizon Worlds to users as young as 13, and in August 2024, it lowered the age gate to 10 for users in the U.S. and Canada.
While some parental controls exist, such as time limits, community guides, and blurred incoming chat requests from strangers, VR still creates unique risks for minor users, especially when age and identity verification are not required for use.
- Meta’s Virtual Reality Platforms and Child Safety Risks
- How Meta’s Virtual Reality Environments Enable Child Abuse
- Child Abuse Allegations and Lawsuits Involving Meta VR
- Legal Implications of Child Abuse in Virtual Reality
- What Parents Can Do If Their Child Was Abused on Meta’s VR Platforms
- Get Legal Help For Meta Virtual Reality Child Abuse
How Meta’s Virtual Reality Environments Enable Child Abuse
Various reports, investigations, and lawsuits regarding Meta’s VR spaces uncovered a prevalence of harassment, sexual content, inappropriate chat options, grooming, and more. In September 2025, six Meta whistleblowers filed a disclosure to Congress, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Federal Trade Commission, asserting that Meta knew about these occurrences and actively covered them up.
The whistleblowers said Meta has repeatedly deleted or doctored internal safety data that showed children being exposed to grooming, sexual harassment, and violence in its VR world. According to the whistleblowers, Meta leadership was so determined to maximize engagement with VR that internal product researchers were explicitly told to stop asking questions about harm.
Several UK-based studies and reviews have found similar levels of harm in the metaverse. In 2023, research from the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children found that VR multi-user spaces provide countless opportunities for people to sexually abuse and exploit children. In June 2025, a review of child sexual abuse in the metaverse highlighted the prevalence of grooming, exploitation, and the distribution of abusive materials in these environments.
Child Abuse Allegations and Lawsuits Involving Meta VR
In December 2023, New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez was among the first to file a lawsuit against Meta, its founder Mark Zuckerberg, and the company’s wholly-owned subsidiaries for failing to protect children from sexual abuse, solicitation, and trafficking. Torrez said the state’s investigation into Meta platforms demonstrated that they are not safe spaces for children, but rather prime locations for predators to trade child sexual abuse materials, or CSAM, and solicit minors for sex.
Torrez’s lawsuit also alleges that Meta fails to remove CSAM across its platforms and enables adults to find, contact, and solicit underage users to produce illicit pornographic imagery and participate in commercial sex.
Legal Implications of Child Abuse in Virtual Reality
Because virtual reality and the online environments available through VR platforms such as Meta’s Horizon Worlds developed so quickly, few current laws apply to harassment and other child abuse in VR spaces, especially at the federal level.
In Utah, it’s a felony for an adult to contact a minor via text to meet up for sex. However, if the adult propositions a minor in virtual reality, it’s not illegal. The state is attempting to pass a bill that would make this type of contact a criminal offense, but there is still no comprehensive federal law protecting children in this regard.
The primary federal protection for children in online spaces currently is the 1998 Children’s Online Privacy Protection Rule, which is notoriously outdated given the rapid advancements in technology over the last 30 years. COPPA imposes specific requirements on operators of websites or online services directed to children under 13 years of age.
What Parents Can Do If Their Child Was Abused on Meta's VR Platforms
If you or your child was abused, groomed, or exploited on Meta’s VR platforms, start by ensuring your child is safe. Then, consider reporting the abuse to the relevant authorities, including local law enforcement and Meta itself. Gather evidence of the abuse, including chat logs, images or videos sent, and any other evidence available. It’s also important to seek legal counsel from professionals who specialize in child sexual abuse cases, particularly in online environments, to fully understand your legal rights and options. You may be eligible to file a lawsuit against Meta or the individual perpetrators, depending on the facts and circumstances.
Get Legal Help For Meta Virtual Reality Child Abuse
If you believe your child was abused in Meta’s virtual reality platforms, Helping Survivors can connect you with one of our legal partners. Our law firms work on a contingency basis, which means they aren’t paid unless they win your case. These firms can file civil lawsuits against the individuals, institutions, and organizations whose negligence put your child in harm’s way.
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