As Facebook begins its push into the virtual reality world of the metaverse, many experts and advocates are raising concerns about user privacy and safety. And according to an internal memo obtained by the Financial Times, the company itself is worried that it may be “practically impossible” to moderate content on the platform at scale.

The memo, written by Meta chief technology officer Andrew Bosworth, expressed open concerns that virtual reality can be a “toxic environment” for some users, and that this could pose an “existential threat” to the company’s plans. However, he also said that it could be impossible to successfully moderate a virtual reality space — and some experts are agreeing with that assessment.

“Facebook can’t moderate their existing platform. How can they moderate one that is enormously more complex and dynamic?” digital forecasting expert John Egan told the Financial Times.

For its part, Facebook responded to the leaked internal memo by shifting responsibility to other companies and regulators to pick up the slack and determine how best to address these issues in VR.

“This won’t be the job of any one company alone,” a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement. “It will require collaboration across industry and with experts, governments and regulators to get it right.”

It’s a good thing that Facebook at least seems aware of the problem it faces. However, as usual, the company seems to be charging ahead without enough precautions in place to ensure it adequately protects its users.

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