Preteens using Meta Quest get new social capabilities, if approved
Meta introduced parent-managed Meta accounts last year for children below the age of 13. These accounts need to be set up by parents or guardians, and said parents or guardians have to approve content the child can access. Though parent-managed follows are allowed, soon preteens will be able to add approved contacts for more social options.
Specifically, Meta is introducing the ability to chat and call with contacts. Preteens will also be able to accept invites from contacts to join them in approved VR or MR (Mixed Reality) experiences.
There are a few restrictions on who can become a Meta contact of a preteen user. For starters, this person needs to be following or being followed by the child. Children can request specific followers to be approved as contacts.
Parents and guardians reserve the right to remove an approved contact from the list at any time. Even if two preteens want to become contacts, both their guardians will need to approve it. As mentioned above, preteens can only join VR or MR experiences that have been approved by their parents.
There are a few restrictions on who can become a Meta contact of a preteen user. For starters, this person needs to be following or being followed by the child. Children can request specific followers to be approved as contacts.
There’s lots of age-appropriate and fun experiences to be had on Meta Quest. | Video credit — Meta
Creating safe spaces for minors is nothing new for Meta. Instagram, for example, is another Meta-owned platform that exercises control over what minors can do. Minors by default cannot be messaged by people they don’t follow. Certain app settings also need to be approved by parents and guardians before being allowed to change.
And that’s just a platform mostly used on a mobile device. Understandably, inappropriate content can be a lot more visceral in VR. So kudos to Meta for taking another step towards keeping minors safe on the internet. This update should be rolling out to Quest owners soon.
I sound like a broken record at this point, but these sorts of gestures and updates really make the Quest headsets some of the best VR headsets on the market.
I sound like a broken record at this point, but these sorts of gestures and updates really make the Quest headsets some of the best VR headsets on the market.
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Things that are NOT allowed: