A girl was allegedly raped in the metaverse. Is this the beginning of a dark new future?

[Sympthsical]

12. This isn't new

I get the headline needs to make it punchier, "Dark New Future!" but sexual assault in virtual worlds and games has existed as long as the Internet has existed.

I remember way back in the 90s playing various games as a kid/teen where, if a player killed you, they mimicked sexually assaulting your corpse in a variety of creative and sometimes graphic ways. And these games weren't predicated on avatars being able to perform those kinds of acts. Where there's a shitty will, an asshole will find a way.

You can find all sorts of incredibly offensive things that would be criminal IRL done in game when it comes to sexual content. It's a running joke in World of Warcraft that you do not go near Goldshire Inn on a role-playing server unless you want to see some shit. I remember playing old school Counter-Strike matches where people figured out how to spray paint graphic porn on the walls of the arenas.

Generally speaking, it's up to the gaming company's content moderation to deal with the issues. Whether or not they do wildly varies. Nowadays, most companies will hand out suspensions or bans for abusive behavior, be that sexist/sexual, bigoted/racist, or bullying/harassment.

But is it actual criminal rape? No. Let's not be any more dystopian than we need to be. Find the aggressors, ban them from the service. That's what pretty much every online service does.

Of course, the article highlights another problem.

In addition, the immersive quality of the metaverse experience makes it all the more difficult for a child, especially, to distinguish between what’s real and what is make-believe.

Yeah. Kids shouldn't be on this shit. Where are the parents? The Internet doesn't have guard rails, which is why parents need to keep a sharp eye out, because the place is full of predators. I wouldn't let a kid within a country mile of a metaverse.