With the growth of social VR and virtual reality in general, will we reach a point where virtual rape is criminalized? More importantly, are we over criminalizing the web and Internet in general?
Virtual Rape, what?
The concept of virtual rape has some problems at least under certain circumstances. If we take Facebook social VR for example where all the users are verified for age, gender, etc, then something is known about the person on the other side in some legally verifiable way. On the Internet prior to Facebook there was no easy way to verify the identity of anyone behind an avatar on any website. The participants in a virtual world would not know who is male or who is female, would not be able to distinguish between male or female players, would not know the age of the other players, in fact nothing can be known about personal identity in that environment unless the participant shares it.
In the verified spaces on the other hand where participants are linked to a real world identity, where reputation is tracked to real world identity, then this opens up different possibilities. The question as to what is virtual rape is relevant in the context where social VR takes off and I predict at some point someone will claim they were virtually raped. The question then is whether it is even possible to virtually rape someone who can simply shut off their machine, or remove their VR headset+suit?
Striding through the snow-covered fortress, shooting zombies with her bow and arrow, Jordan Belamire felt like a god – right up until the moment someone named BigBro442 decided to “virtually rub [her] chest” and make her feel like just another “powerless woman”.
“Even when I turned away from him, he chased me around, making grabbing and pinching motions near my chest,” she wrote in a Medium post of her experience playing QuiVR, a virtual reality game. “Emboldened, he even shoved his hand toward my virtual crotch and began rubbing.”
Sexual harassment has been a feature of online and gaming communities from the earliest days of the internet. Until now, the abuse has been largely limited to verbal and visual messages, but as virtual reality technology becomes more immersive, the line between our real bodies and our digital bodies begins to blur.
My question after interpreting these quotes is why on earth do we even need to think about "gender" in virtual environments which don't need to be restricted to these rules? A player in a VR environment would have no clue what gender another player is and just because their avatar is female doesn't mean they are female in the real world. So for this reason I would say this particular kind of argument would only apply to social VR which links gender identity to the virtual identity, which in my opinion isn't necessary and actually takes away from some of the freedom VR has to offer.
“If you highly identify with your avatar and are portraying yourself in an authentic manner, you’re going to feel violated,” said Jesse Fox, an Ohio State University professor who researches the social implications of virtual worlds. “It wouldn’t be different if someone sent you a harassing email to your work email or harassed you in a chat room.”
And what should be the consequences for people who violate in virtual space? Also how can any participant know whether or not you identify with your avatar and are portraying yourself in an authentic manner? This isn't in my opinion the same as email necessarily because an email account is expected socially to be used in real world serious communication while VR is associated with gaming. Gaming typically has players who enjoy the freedom and fantasy without the responsibilities of the real world. It is true that people can have their feelings hurt in virtual environments and it does stimulate the senses, so there can be a lot more intensity to it. At the same time I don't think it compares to real life because in real life you can't unplug, you can't disconnect or block a player you don't want to play with, at least not without a restraining order which may not even work.
When the developers of QuiVR, Aaron Stanton and Jonathan Schenker, learned about Belamire’s experience of harassment, they updated the game’s code to include an expanded “personal bubble” that they believe will prevent future gropings.
And this in my opinion is crucial. Not every problem requires creating a new law, with harsh criminal sentences. In a way the United States has a fetish for over criminalization. The United States has a lot of non-violent prisoners and criminals because it's so easy to do something wrong and be punished. In the context of VR the solutions can also be in VR and I think that is the resolution to virtual rape. The concept of a virtual shield in my opinion is a way to allow participants to protect themselves within the rules of the virtual world, which encourages self regulation.