Britain's Metropolitan Police is investigating an alleged gang rape of a teenage girl's online avatar on the Metaverse while playing a virtual reality (VR) video game, the Daily Mail reported on Monday.
Officers claimed that although the minor girl, who is under 16 years old, did not feel any physical pain, the immersive nature of virtual reality left her psychologically traumatized by an experience that resembled physical rape. Daily Mail reported. According to the report, the victim was in an online “room” with many other online avatars in the Metaverse, and was sexually assaulted by several adult male avatars.
Police say they believe no such investigation has ever been carried out in the UK. Details of the case were withheld to protect the child and ensure prosecution, the Daily Mail reported.
british sexual crimes law They seem to be more interested in the physical acts of sexual violence and assault, rather than the virtual ones.
“Behavior like the one described has no place on our platform. That's why we have an automatic protection feature for all of our users called Personal Boundaries that keeps strangers a few feet away from you.” said a Meta spokesperson. Statement to the Daily Mail. (Related: Police charge man who posed as a student and committed sex crimes against teenage girls)
Police are investigating the first rape case in the Metaverse after a child was “attacked” with a virtual reality video game.
The victim, who was wearing a headset, was uninjured as there was no physical attack, but police said she suffered psychological and emotional trauma. pic.twitter.com/7ksYpjscol
— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) January 2, 2024
The Metaverse is being touted as “the next evolution of social connections and the successor to the mobile internet,” allowing users to “connect with people and feel even closer to them even when they're not physically in the same place.” Directly together.” According to Mark Zuckerberg's meta.
However, according to the Daily Mail, Ian Critchley, head of child protection and abuse investigation at the UK National Police Chiefs' Council, said: “The Metaverse is creating a gateway for predators to commit horrific crimes against children. ” he said.
According to , several people have recently been sexually harassed and assaulted in the Metaverse. report Published by advocacy platform Ekō. Meta said rolled out In early 2022, we'll add a “Personal Boundaries” feature that prevents strangers in VR from entering your digital character's space.This was a response to Report of virtual rape allegation According to researcher Nina Jane Patel, new york post.
