this post was submitted on 03 Jan 2024
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Police are investigating a virtual sexual assault of a girl's avatar, the chair of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners has said.

Donna Jones said she had learned that a complaint was made in 2023, triggering a police inquiry.

The virtual incident did not result in physical harm but caused "psychological trauma", the Daily Mail has reported a source as saying. Police chiefs have called on platforms to do more to protect their users.

The impact of the attack on the girl's avatar was said to be heightened because of the immersive nature of the VR experience.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 10 months ago (4 children)

It's a little silly at this stage, but I think there needs to be a legal framework around this thing now because eventually, our games will be realistic enough and immersive enough that this could become a serious issue.

[–] [email protected] 42 points 10 months ago (1 children)

You're joking right? Read about Ellen Page and the Beyond:Two Souls controversy.

Shit's already here. It's not just a little silly anymore. And with those AI deep fakes floating around, anyone can become a pornstar without even knowing about it.

People already killing themselves for fake rape allegations and social media pariah-ism, what now that fake porn with you in it can be made at any time?

This shit's a disaster in the making, not just a little silly.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 10 months ago (2 children)

This is the best comment in this thread so far. You make some excellent points.

What that girl experienced is definitely a form of harassment. And the VR part just made it more real than simple texts or photos. Which I think should be considered as a form of psychological assault.

And how fucked up must men and rape culture be that a girl can't even feel safe in a fucking virtual reality setting. Seriously, that's a big WTF. This is just sad.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 10 months ago

I'd say it's more expected. People feel fat less social restraints when online. VR is no different.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

Glad to see these opinions. A lot of this thread is full of ignorant people.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Image being on trial for playing Rimworld.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I'd get life in prison for sure.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

They would launch us into the sun.

[–] [email protected] -5 points 10 months ago

Again, eventually it could become a serious issue.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Absolutely not! That’s absurd. You can’t virtually rape someone or virtually assault someone. You can always just look away, remove the headset, or turn off the pc. You can always instantly remove yourself from the situation. You are never in a position of danger. You are never in any way being harmed. The police should arrest the person that called them for wasting their time.

[–] [email protected] 22 points 10 months ago (19 children)

You can always hang up the phone if you're getting repeatedly harassed on the phone too. That doesn't make it any less harassment. Of course it doesn't rise to the level of physical rape. That doesn't mean it isn't (intentionally) psychologically damaging. And, as I said, it needs to be done before it gets a lot more immersive, not because of the way things are right now. It could very well not be so easy to instantly remove yourself in the future.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (2 children)

Yeah but I am assuming you are an adult?
Kids get pulled into things like this and dont just remove the headset, they are much more malleable than a grown adult.

The question is, shouldnt their parents be supervising them? Perhaps their parents dont even know about these online worlds filled with people? Did the parents buy them VR without any research into what you can do with it? There's a lot of education that needs doing for both children and adults concerning online safety, more and more so as the online world advances.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago

That’s the parent’s fault for letting them play something without adult supervision.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Little Kids just shouldn’t be using this stuff, or should at least be supervised. Young adults can handle trash talk and gamer bs lol. This is such a non issue that people are just grasping at straws to try and make an issue it’s insane.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

It's an issue if kids can get a hold of this stuff and access it, yes. Parenting is the main problem, I agree, but not every parent is competent enough to look out for this kind of stuff, also this stuff is often heavily marketed towards children.

I think adults sexually harrassing children online is an issue, if you don't, then I don't know what to say.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

I mean what is sexual harassment in a game? Saying something vulgar? Getting close to their avitar? That’s not sexual harassment to me.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago

I don't know if this is true, but based on what I could find on google, cyber bullying is illegal in some places, including most US states (again, not sure about that, please correct me if I'm wrong). My point is, it's not a new idea to get the law involved in a situation regarding online harassment. A victim could probably avoid it by logging off, but the legal precedent seems to be that they shouldn't be expected to. That seems reasonable to me, just considering I wouldn't tell someone to 'just leave' an irl space because someone was harassing them.

I agree in that I wouldn't call what happened here 'rape' in a legal sense, but if you're saying that something is inherently harmless because it's done online, I strongly disagree. Otherwise, sorry if I misunderstood.

[–] [email protected] -5 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I think they need to go outside.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 10 months ago (1 children)

"I think they shouldn't have worn such a short skirt."

How about we don't blame people for others sexually harassing or assaulting them?

Especially when they're trying to have some harmless fun.

[–] [email protected] -2 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

Just block and report, it’s that easy, if you want to continue being in the situation.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 months ago (1 children)

And if the game doesn't have that option? There's no legal requirement to have that option. Maybe there should be?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago (1 children)

The reporting/blocking features are done at the OS level, not in game.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I have never seen a 'block and report' feature on any OS. And there is certainly no requirement for games to use it if there were.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

It's right there in the quick access menu, a single button press away at any time.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Right where in what quick access menu? I don't even know what you're talking about, but I have no idea why you think some 'report' button on, for example, Windows, would send a report to the game company who would then act on the sexual harassment. It's also certainly not universal to all OSes and consoles.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I'm talking about VR devices, which don't run Windows, for example using any Meta headset, App developers are required to make in-app reporting accessible when you press menu and select Report abuse from the universal menu. The report abuse button is one button click away at all times.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Okay, great. Now what about all other games on all other systems where women get constantly sexually harassed? Any solutions there?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Thread is about VR, which is specifically what I am talking about.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Ah, ok, so you're just saying that every VR device ever made in the future for perpetuity will have a block and report button despite no legal requirement to have one.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

No, as stated I'm talking specifically about the most popular headsets made by Meta. I believe Pico and WMR headsets have the same system in place but I haven't used either in a while, WMR is being canned so not really relevant.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 10 months ago

Okay, but this is about establishing a legal framework. If there was a legal framework requiring a block and report button on every VR gaming system, perfect.

[–] [email protected] 14 points 10 months ago

You mean the harassers, right? They were the ones ruining the fun.