I would like to propose an important safety feature that I believe could significantly strengthen the protection of the IMVU community.
This is not intended to accuse IMVU or any specific user. It is a preventive safety proposal based on situations that I have personally encountered within the platform.
IMVU already provides Age Verification and Age-Verified Rooms. However, I believe there is an opportunity to add another layer of protection specifically related to the appearance and configuration of avatars.
I would like to suggest the development of an automated safety system, potentially using AI-assisted detection, that could identify avatars intentionally designed or configured to represent children or minors.
When such an avatar is detected, the system could automatically prevent it from entering 18+ or Age-Verified rooms.
The system could also provide additional safeguards, such as:
• Preventing child-like avatars from entering adult-only rooms.
• Preventing adult-oriented interactions involving avatars identified as child-like.
• Automatically flagging potentially unsafe situations for review by the Trust & Safety team.
• Giving room owners an additional option to restrict child-like avatars from entering their rooms.
• Combining AI detection with existing age-verification and moderation systems rather than replacing them.
I understand that AI detection is not perfect and that false positives are possible. Therefore, I believe this should function as an additional safety layer, with appropriate human review when necessary.
### Why I believe this matters
The purpose would not be to determine the real-world age of a person based solely on their avatar.
The purpose would be to prevent an avatar explicitly designed to represent a child or minor from being placed in an adult environment.
A virtual platform can have many different types of roleplay and self-expression, but there should be a clear safety boundary between child-like representations and adult environments.
Prevention is especially important in situations where relying exclusively on user reports means that inappropriate circumstances may already have occurred before moderation becomes aware of them.
I believe IMVU has an opportunity to develop a stronger technical safeguard that could complement its existing Age Verification, Age-Verified Rooms, reporting tools, and Trust & Safety systems.
This could also become an important example of proactive safety technology within virtual worlds.
I am posting this suggestion because I genuinely want IMVU to remain a safe, responsible, and enjoyable environment for its community.
I would greatly appreciate it if the IMVU team could review this proposal and consider whether a feature of this nature could be incorporated into the platform.
Thank you for taking the time to read this suggestion.
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4 Comments
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Nuakeposted
5 days ago
I know what Brat Role Play is. That's not really the point I'm making.
I'm not arguing that adults shouldn't be allowed to roleplay, behave playfully, or have a particular aesthetic. I'm talking about the distinction between adult roleplay and deliberately presenting an adult avatar as a minor.
Those are not the same thing, and IMVU's own policies recognize that distinction. Adults can present themselves in different ways, but the avatar is still expected to represent an adult. Age-Verified spaces and AP already demonstrate that IMVU is capable of creating boundaries around age-related content.
So bringing up Brat RP doesn't really disprove my point. It actually reinforces why clear boundaries matter: different types of roleplay need to be distinguished rather than treated as one category.
0 Votes
UglyDollposted
5 days ago
Someone doesn't know what Brat Role Play is.
To a hammer everything is a nail that needs to be hammered.
0 Votes
N
Nuakeposted
5 days ago
I think you're responding to a different argument than the one I'm making.
I'm not saying you can simply prevent adults from wearing certain clothes or that people will never try to make their avatars look younger. I'm talking about whether the platform should establish clearer boundaries around how minors are represented and how those representations interact with adult-oriented spaces and content.
The fact that people already do something, or that they spend money on it, doesn't by itself mean there shouldn't be limits. IMVU already separates GA and AP experiences and has age-verification systems for adults.
My point is not “you can stop every adult from doing this.” That's obviously unrealistic. My point is that the platform can still define what is acceptable, what isn't, and where certain representations are allowed.
So yes, it would be an issue — but saying “people do it anyway” doesn't really address the policy question I'm raising.
0 Votes
J
JustSongposted
5 days ago
While this sounds good....in theory...You can't stop adults from dressing as a child, which is done all the time in IMVULand. The kids on VU are too busy trying to look grown up while the adults try and look like kids. Trust me, this will be an issue. I'm not saying it's right or moral, but that's a fact. People pay money to do this. You won't be able to restrict something like that.
Hello IMVU Community and IMVU Team,
I would like to propose an important safety feature that I believe could significantly strengthen the protection of the IMVU community.
This is not intended to accuse IMVU or any specific user. It is a preventive safety proposal based on situations that I have personally encountered within the platform.
IMVU already provides Age Verification and Age-Verified Rooms. However, I believe there is an opportunity to add another layer of protection specifically related to the appearance and configuration of avatars.
### Proposed Feature: Child-Like Avatar Safety Protection
I would like to suggest the development of an automated safety system, potentially using AI-assisted detection, that could identify avatars intentionally designed or configured to represent children or minors.
When such an avatar is detected, the system could automatically prevent it from entering 18+ or Age-Verified rooms.
The system could also provide additional safeguards, such as:
• Preventing child-like avatars from entering adult-only rooms.
• Preventing adult-oriented interactions involving avatars identified as child-like.
• Automatically flagging potentially unsafe situations for review by the Trust & Safety team.
• Giving room owners an additional option to restrict child-like avatars from entering their rooms.
• Combining AI detection with existing age-verification and moderation systems rather than replacing them.
I understand that AI detection is not perfect and that false positives are possible. Therefore, I believe this should function as an additional safety layer, with appropriate human review when necessary.
### Why I believe this matters
The purpose would not be to determine the real-world age of a person based solely on their avatar.
The purpose would be to prevent an avatar explicitly designed to represent a child or minor from being placed in an adult environment.
A virtual platform can have many different types of roleplay and self-expression, but there should be a clear safety boundary between child-like representations and adult environments.
Prevention is especially important in situations where relying exclusively on user reports means that inappropriate circumstances may already have occurred before moderation becomes aware of them.
I believe IMVU has an opportunity to develop a stronger technical safeguard that could complement its existing Age Verification, Age-Verified Rooms, reporting tools, and Trust & Safety systems.
This could also become an important example of proactive safety technology within virtual worlds.
I am posting this suggestion because I genuinely want IMVU to remain a safe, responsible, and enjoyable environment for its community.
I would greatly appreciate it if the IMVU team could review this proposal and consider whether a feature of this nature could be incorporated into the platform.
Thank you for taking the time to read this suggestion.
0 Votes
4 Comments
Nuake posted 5 days ago
I know what Brat Role Play is. That's not really the point I'm making.
I'm not arguing that adults shouldn't be allowed to roleplay, behave playfully, or have a particular aesthetic. I'm talking about the distinction between adult roleplay and deliberately presenting an adult avatar as a minor.
Those are not the same thing, and IMVU's own policies recognize that distinction. Adults can present themselves in different ways, but the avatar is still expected to represent an adult. Age-Verified spaces and AP already demonstrate that IMVU is capable of creating boundaries around age-related content.
So bringing up Brat RP doesn't really disprove my point. It actually reinforces why clear boundaries matter: different types of roleplay need to be distinguished rather than treated as one category.
0 Votes
UglyDoll posted 5 days ago
Someone doesn't know what Brat Role Play is.
To a hammer everything is a nail that needs to be hammered.
0 Votes
Nuake posted 5 days ago
I think you're responding to a different argument than the one I'm making.
I'm not saying you can simply prevent adults from wearing certain clothes or that people will never try to make their avatars look younger. I'm talking about whether the platform should establish clearer boundaries around how minors are represented and how those representations interact with adult-oriented spaces and content.
The fact that people already do something, or that they spend money on it, doesn't by itself mean there shouldn't be limits. IMVU already separates GA and AP experiences and has age-verification systems for adults.
My point is not “you can stop every adult from doing this.” That's obviously unrealistic. My point is that the platform can still define what is acceptable, what isn't, and where certain representations are allowed.
So yes, it would be an issue — but saying “people do it anyway” doesn't really address the policy question I'm raising.
0 Votes
JustSong posted 5 days ago
While this sounds good....in theory...You can't stop adults from dressing as a child, which is done all the time in IMVULand. The kids on VU are too busy trying to look grown up while the adults try and look like kids. Trust me, this will be an issue. I'm not saying it's right or moral, but that's a fact. People pay money to do this. You won't be able to restrict something like that.
1 Votes
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