2024-01-14 23:30:00
The violence in the metaverse does not stop and there are complaints of sexism, homophobia and racism transcending the virtual world. A woman revealed that she was “practically gang raped” by four male avatars in Meta’s Horizon Worlds, and said the trauma is similar to that of real-world assault.
The psychotherapist and co-founder of a new company, Nina Patel said her attackers may have felt “uninhibited” because they were in a virtual world. Furthermore, although he does not know their true identities, all four had male voices, and after the attack one even told him: “Don’t pretend you didn’t love it.”.
In statements to DailyMailPatel recounted that the “distressing experience” occurred just 60 seconds after joining the virtual world owned by Meta, a shared 3D space where avatars often meet random people. Patel was attacked simply for having a female avatar, an experience she described as “surreal” and “horrible”.
“They harassed me relentlessly and then proceeded to (what can only be described) as a sexual assault on my avatar,” he explained, adding: “Their behavior was offensive and disturbing“.”The attack likely occurred in this case due to anonymity and the perception of lack of consequences within the virtual reality space“Patel said.
Patel is co-founder of Carbon y metaverse and virtual reality expertso she was one of the first users of Horizon Worldsa pioneering metaverse space owned by Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta. It is a free 3D world, where avatars can explore and talk to each otherwhich can be accessed through specific headphones.
The attack saw male avatars harassing his character, yelling at him and taking in-game photos, with one taunting attacker making a very crude suggestion about what he should do with the images. “Some people may engage in such offensive behavior in virtual reality environments because they feel disconnected from their identities in the real world and they believe that they can act without facing any repercussions,” the victim analyzed.
“Another potential problem is that aggressive and violent behavior is encouraged and rewarded on some virtual reality platforms,” he added, postulating that “The emotional and psychological impact of virtual reality can be very genuine and impactful”, since the experience is designed to be completely immersive.
The specialist said that the metaverse brings together technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, and feels so real that it can cause “deep emotional and psychological impacts.” “This can cause real trauma and psychological distress similar to that experienced in physical assaults,” Patel continued.
The problem increases when the age groups that use this technology are considered. At the beginning of January, it was learned that UK police were investigating a case of virtual gang rape suffered by the avatar of a 16-year-old girlwho reported the attack because he had suffered a great emotional impact.
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The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, a British child protection charity, estimates that 15% of children between 5 and 10 years old have used virtual reality headsets and 6% play with them daily. “The Government must consider changing the law to protect women and children from harm in these virtual environments,” said the president of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, Donna Jones.
“Most VR users have reported encountering racism, homophobia, and sexual harassmentwhether directed at them personally or at others,” Patel detailed. “When someone is in a virtual reality environment, their brain often perceives the experiences as genuine and may feel real emotions such as excitement, fear, joy, or even a sense of presence in the virtual world,” he added.
“While negative incidents may deter some users, my defense emphasizes the importance of a balanced approach, recognizing both the potential benefits of the metaverse such as the need for strong security measures, especially for children and young people. Speaking allows me to promote responsible design, challenge stereotypes and drive collective efforts by platform providers and users, all in pursuit of creating a safer and more enjoyable metaverse for all of us,” concluded Patel.
A previous report had already reported group violations and the company held the user responsible
SumOfUsa nonprofit organization, produced a report on hate speech and sexual assault issues at Horizons in May 2022. An anonymous 21-year-old researcher at the organization was attacked an hour after using the platform. “It happened so quickly that it was disassociative. “One part of my brain was saying, ‘What’s going on,’ another part was saying this ‘isn’t a real body,’ and another part was saying, ‘This is important research,'” she said.
In the report, titled ‘Metaverse: another cesspool of toxic content’” the organization SumOfUs detailed what happened when the young woman tested the application with an “Oculus” headset. “The woman, a researcher for the organization, entered with a female-looking and sounding avatar, and was sexually assaulted within an hour,” according to the report. “While the Personal Goal Limit setting is enabled by default, the researcher decided to disable it, as another user encouraged her”.
“The woman she was taken to a private room at a party where she was raped by a user telling him to turn around so he could do it from behind while users outside the window could see, all while another user in the room looked on and passed around a bottle of vodka,” the report says.
Con Personal Boundary disabled, the other avatars were able to virtually touch the researcher’s avatar, which caused their hand controllers to vibrate“creating a very disorienting and even disturbing physical experience,” the organization said.
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“Not Horizon Worlds, Personal Boundary “It defaults to almost 4 feet (about 1.30m) for non-friends to make it easier to avoid unwanted interactions,” the Meta spokesperson said. “We do not recommend disabling the security feature with people you do not know.”
Mark Zuckerberg’s company said it has several tools to help people stay safe while in virtual reality and this includes a Safe zone buttonwhich allows you to block people who are bothering you, as well as the ability to report people or content.
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