Just Type No?

[carvers4math]

Is that like "Don't wear such a short skirt"? And before I get slammed, please understand that I have no gaming background other than watching my 7-year-old grandchild play Star Wars Lego guy whatever-its-called or start to learn Minecraft.

I'm also a female who has no idea what I actually would do in a similar situation. I just know that reading some of these comments makes me think what seems so easy and obvious to one person could be nearly impossible to another. It's one thing to debate potential charges based on very little real evidence, and quite another to state what the person in question "should have done."

And reminds me that virtual can provide easy access to non-virtuous opportunities.

Sexual harassment and sex crimes seem to always start with blaming the victim. In this case, do we even know how old the child victim is? For that matter, do we know how old the virtual gang rapists are? There are a whole lot of parents who do not monitor their kids’ gaming at all for a variety of reasons.

 

[cowgirl836]

Is that like "Don't wear such a short skirt"? And before I get slammed, please understand that I have no gaming background other than watching my 7-year-old grandchild play Star Wars Lego guy whatever-its-called or start to learn Minecraft.

I'm also a female who has no idea what I actually would do in a similar situation. I just know that reading some of these comments makes me think what seems so easy and obvious to one person could be nearly impossible to another. It's one thing to debate potential charges based on very little real evidence, and quite another to state what the person in question "should have done."

And reminds me that virtual can provide easy access to non-virtuous opportunities.

The platform absolutely has an obligation to make it a safer environment for their users. Even on here - you post an abusive message toward someone? You're getting a timeout. The mods don't simply say "meh, bullying is part of life, toughen up, buttercup."

 

[cowgirl836]

Sexual harassment and sex crimes seem to always start with blaming the victim. In this case, do we even know how old the child victim is? For that matter, do we know how old the virtual gang rapists are? There are a whole lot of parents who do not monitor their kids’ gaming at all for a variety of reasons.

Exactly. How about we start with banning those who are perpetuating the harassment. I'd have to imagine Meta keeps some kind of log of avatar actions/language. Shouldn't be that difficult to go back and remove their access. Or, update their ToS accordingly to cover such harassment.

 

[simply1]

I’m in a 25+ gamer group and comments towards the women in our group can be pretty abhorrent. The reporting mechanisms leave a lot to be desired depending on the platform.
Virtual reality would need more controls I would think.

 

[Cyclonepride]

Is that like "Don't wear such a short skirt"? And before I get slammed, please understand that I have no gaming background other than watching my 7-year-old grandchild play Star Wars Lego guy whatever-its-called or start to learn Minecraft.

I'm also a female who has no idea what I actually would do in a similar situation. I just know that reading some of these comments makes me think what seems so easy and obvious to one person could be nearly impossible to another. It's one thing to debate potential charges based on very little real evidence, and quite another to state what the person in question "should have done."

And reminds me that virtual can provide easy access to non-virtuous opportunities.

Nothing like that at all. You are in a virtual world, with a button that you can push to immediately exit that world whenever you would like (and if you cannot find the button, you can most assuredly remove the headset until you can). If you are savvy enough to get into that world, you are savvy enough to leave. That doesn't excuse anything that was done, but unlike a real world situation, you can leave the instant you want to leave. And, as I said, those slimes should lose access immediately.

 

[cyclonewino]

I'm an old fart who doesn't do gaming, but don't people have some self identity with their avatar? Wouldn't they want to defend that "character". It's easy to understand physical violence, emotional and psychological not so much, particularly for children. It seems many adults in this thread don't have much understanding.

 

[Jeremy]

I'm an old fart who doesn't do gaming, but don't people have some self identity with their avatar? Wouldn't they want to defend that "character". It's easy to understand physical violence, emotional and psychological not so much, particularly for children. It seems many adults in this thread don't have much understanding.

I was thinking about that early on. One often gets invested in, and many times bonded with, their avatar. Even more so in a virtual world where it’s a personification of themselves - and often times not readily “disposable” for many reasons. I think about my kids and Roblox for instance. For better or worse, they somewhat live vicariously through the eyes of their avatar/character.

 

[NWICY]

I'm an old fart who doesn't do gaming, but don't people have some self identity with their avatar? Wouldn't they want to defend that "character". It's easy to understand physical violence, emotional and psychological not so much, particularly for children. It seems many adults in this thread don't have much understanding.

And most of us including me have admitted we don't

 

[Big Daddy Kang]

Would it be impolitic to ask what the avatar was wearing?

 

[NorthCyd]

Apparently they have a boundary system built in to stop this kind of thing, or at least they did.

https://www.theverge.com/2022/2/4/2...-harassment-groping-personal-boundary-feature

 

[Clonefan32]

I was thinking about that early on. One often gets invested in, and many times bonded with, their avatar. Even more so in a virtual world where it’s a personification of themselves - and often times not readily “disposable” for many reasons. I think about my kids and Roblox for instance. For better or worse, they somewhat live vicariously through the eyes of their avatar/character.

I guess that's where I both get it and don't get it. On one hand, I cannot imagine being disconnected from reality enough to not understand that violence or abuse against my online character is not violence or abuse against me. But I also realize that there are undoubtedly people in that world that are so immersed in it that the lines between reality and virtual reality would be completely blurred and would feel personally violated if assaulted. It's odd to me, and obviously I don't think commission of a crime against an avatar/character warrants anywhere near the punishments of a similar crime committed against an actual person, but I can also understand the desire to create some safeguards.

 

[Cyrealist]

The alternative is to demand that society is responsible for monitoring or stopping bullying? Good luck with that. Bullying is as old as humanity itself and will never go away.

I think we should expect hosting companies to not allow minors on sites where there is graphic sexual harassment. I would think such harassment would violate the terms of service.

 

[Ms3r4ISU]

I guess that's where I both get it and don't get it. On one hand, I cannot imagine being disconnected from reality enough to not understand that violence or abuse against my online character is not violence or abuse against me. But I also realize that there are undoubtedly people in that world that are so immersed in it that the lines between reality and virtual reality would be completely blurred and would feel personally violated if assaulted. It's odd to me, and obviously I don't think commission of a crime against an avatar/character warrants anywhere near the punishments of a similar crime committed against an actual person, but I can also understand the desire to create some safeguards.

I wonder: IF there are undoubtedly people in that world that are so immersed in it that the lines between reality and virtual reality would be completely blurred, does it also stand to reason that would be true for those whose avatars were responsible for the assaulting?

 

[Cyrealist]

I guess that's where I both get it and don't get it. On one hand, I cannot imagine being disconnected from reality enough to not understand that violence or abuse against my online character is not violence or abuse against me. But I also realize that there are undoubtedly people in that world that are so immersed in it that the lines between reality and virtual reality would be completely blurred and would feel personally violated if assaulted. It's odd to me, and obviously I don't think commission of a crime against an avatar/character warrants anywhere near the punishments of a similar crime committed against an actual person, but I can also understand the desire to create some safeguards.

My son has a VR helmet so he let us "walk the plank" out of a virtual skyscraper. Intellectually I knew it was a board laid out on the carpet, but I couldn't make myself walk out there,

 

[Clonefan32]

I wonder: IF there are undoubtedly people in that world that are so immersed in it that the lines between reality and virtual reality would be completely blurred, does it also stand to reason that would be true for those whose avatars were responsible for the assaulting?

I would imagine the same type of pathological issues that would lead someone to harm someone in reality would lead them to harm someone in virtual reality. I'm sure there is overlap there. I guess all I'm trying to say is from a criminal standpoint you can't equate the two.