Metaverse Virtual Offence: The British Police have recently launched an investigation for a virtual gang rape with a 16-year-old minor girl. According to the New York Post report, the 16-year-old was sexually assaulted in the metaverse immersive online gaming. The minor girl was reported to be in an emotional and mental setback after her digital avatar in the game was gang raped by a group of strangers.
Teenager Faces Virtual Offence
The teenager was reportedly wearing a VR headset in a game when several other players sexually attacked her. A report mentioned that the girl managed to avoid any physical injury, but the girl encountered the same psychological pain as happens in an actual rape.
“This child experienced psychological trauma similar to that of someone who has been physically raped. There is an emotional and psychological impact on the victim that is longer term than any physical injuries,” a senior officer told the news outlet.
“It poses several challenges for law enforcement given current legislation is not set up for this,” the officer added.
The rising cases of such incidents with minors and a recent investigation launched by UK Police have sparked a discourse about whether investigation agencies should consider virtual offences as a crime or not and especially when there are already millions of cases still pending real-world rape incidents.
This incident highlights the potential risks of the rapidly developing metaverse, a virtual world where users interact through avatars. Concerns have been raised about the lack of adequate safeguards against online harassment, bullying, and even virtual violence.
Meta’s Response
Meta spokesperson said, “The kind of behaviour described has no place on our platform, which is why for all users we have an automatic protection called personal boundary, which keeps people you don’t know a few feet away from you”.
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