A researcher’s avatar was sexually assaulted on a metaverse platform owned by Meta, making her the latest victim of sexual abuse on Meta’s platforms, watchdog says

• A nonprofit advocacy group says a researcher’s avatar was raped in the metaverse.

• Other Meta users have also said they were sexually harassed or abused in the metaverse.

• Meta investors wanted a report on harms facing metaverse users, but shareholders rejected the idea.

A researcher entered the metaverse wanting to study users’ behavior on Meta’s social-networking platform Horizon World. But within an hour after she donned her Oculus…