Meta to lower the minimum age for its Quest VR headsets from 13 to 10

Lowering the age requirement to use its Quest headset could help increase interest in VR headsets. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has set out a vision for Metaverse, which he describes as a fully realized digital world that exists beyond the one in which we live. Meta is spending billions of dollars in Metaverse as it hopes to create the next computing paradigm.

To lure younger audiences, Meta has slowly lowered the minimum age to use its virtual reality apps. Early this year, the company said it would allow people under 18 to use Horizon Worlds, its virtual reality-based social network. But after the intervention of two Democratic senators, Meta suspend a plan to offer Horizon Worlds to teens between the ages of 13 and 17. As of now, Horizon Worlds remains restricted to users 13 and older.

Experts say Meta’s latest move to lower the minimum age for its virtual reality headsets could trigger new privacy and safety concerns with parents and regulators. Over the past few years, accounts of women being sexually assaulted and harassed in the virtual space have gone up. Meta, however, has argued that it offers the right tools to protect its users in virtual reality.

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