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submitted 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

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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[-] quams69@lemmy.world 8 points 2 years ago

I grabbed mossmans boobas in hl2 gmod vr the fbi are at my door help

[-] blazeknave@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago

Remember when the Internet was new? Know how kids still get pedo'd now?

Setting precedent early is important. There will be billions of people in this soon enough and without regulation, it's Westworld.

[-] qaz@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

The article seems a bit silly, but online harassment is an actual issue and can have a big impact, especially for minors. The way it's presented, especially the Daily Mail article (“British police probe VIRTUAL rape in metaverse” and the mentioning of AI) is a significant (perhaps deliberate) misunderstanding of the problem for the sake of clicks. In reality, this situation isn't that different compared to Omgele back in the day, but instead it's compared to physical SA. I think this kind of clickbait reporting does not contribute to bringing awareness to the issue of digital harassment, nor to a greater understanding required to solve it. It's presented as a new threat (like DM likes to do), but in fact this is simply a new form of online harassment, like we've been seeing for years.

Kids as young as 8 years old are being given unsupervised access to the internet. This alone seems very unhealthy, but it also means that other individuals get access to them. Grooming and online harassment have been an issue since SMS, and probably will be. The police does not have the expertise and capacity (or perhaps motivation) required to deal with these situations. The online platforms fail at moderation, some allow users to send death threats while using some bot to block swearwords. Malicious actors rarely face any consequences online. The parents also usually don't have a clue about what their kids are doing, nor how the platforms their kids use work, which means they are unable to teach their kids what to avoid.

I believe to solve these issues, this kind of behavior should come with actual consequences. However, I don't have high hopes this will help soon. I therefore believe education also plays a role, both for the parent and their children. Kids should learn about social norms for the internet and what to do when people disregard them, and parents should have the knowledge to help them. The platforms themselves should also take action, the amount of moderators on social media is pathetic. Facebook has millions of users but only has 54 moderators (spanning all their services including Instagram) to moderate posts in my country's language. Current social media is a breeding ground for disinformation, rage, and harassment, not because it's impossible not to, but because all major platforms have switched to an engagement based algorithm.

[-] MuhammadJesusGaySex@lemmy.world 7 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I am very glad I’m not dating in this day and age.

I met my partner by “sexually assaulting” someone.

She had thrown a house party. There was a guy there causing a problem. She wanted him to leave, but didn’t want a fight. This is the first time I met my now partner, but I volunteered.

The guy that needed to leave was sitting on the floor right next to a doorway. I just pulled out the ole wang jangler and leaned against the inside of the door way. My floppy bits were mere inches from his face.

He turned his head and noticed. He made a disgusted noise and moved. I chased this guy around the party with my John Thomas hanging out. Every time he sat down somewhere, there we were. After about 30 mins of that he got the picture and left.

My partner has always said that was the moment she knew she wanted to get to know me. Just to be clear it’s not huge or anything. I’m guessing it’s a confidence thing, but yeah I scared away an asshole, and convinced a woman I am the one. All by running around a party with my spicy bits hanging out.

I have a feeling that would be frowned upon these days.

Edit: Also, when I was a homeless heroin addict. My partner was the one that took me in, and paid for my treatment. That one decision has affected my life in more ways than I probably realized.

[-] MYCOOLNEJM@sh.itjust.works 7 points 2 years ago

In a game?? I kinda understand harrasment over the phone or messages or whatever, but in the game? Just change servers or fucking turn off your pc, lmao. Games are not a real place

[-] Crozekiel@lemmy.zip 6 points 2 years ago

Over the phone?? Just change phone numbers or hang up your phone. You aren't even in the same place.

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[-] stoly@lemmy.world 6 points 2 years ago

I'm not in the metaverse and wouldn't be in VR because of cost even if I were. So, question: what exactly is supposed to have happened here? Someone's avatar pushed someone else's avatar into a virtual corner?

[-] echodot@feddit.uk 9 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

In VR you can almost never actually get up in someone's face if you try either your body clips into there is because neither of you have an effective physical presence in the simulation (virtually no game goes that far with its realism) or you actually fade out because there is a comfort zone in the game.

Either way you cannot directly interact with someone. Most games will have hitboxes on the hands, but nowhere else on the body so the best that you can do would be to touch someone else's hands and it's not like they can feel it.

[-] Riven@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

Not even that, I can almost guarantee they don't have movable hit boxes. It was probably the classic COD thing of teabagging or simulated thrusting by moving back and forth while talking dirty over voice comms.

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[-] reverendsteveii@lemm.ee 4 points 2 years ago

a bunch of people sexually harassed a child, calling it "virtual sexual assault" is the clickbait headline that quotes one anonymous person's opinion

[-] chitak166@lemmy.world 6 points 2 years ago

Tax dollars hard at work.

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this post was submitted on 03 Jan 2024
216 points (100.0% liked)

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