2024-01-13 20:00:03
A woman has revealed she was the victim of “virtual gang rape” by four male avatars in Meta’s Horizon Worlds, an online virtual reality (VR) video game, and she said the trauma was similar to aggression in the real world.
Psychotherapist Nina Patel said her attackers may have felt “disinhibited” because they were in a virtual world, she told the Daily Mail.
Although she did not know the true identities of her attackers, all four had male voices, and one even told her following the attack: “Don’t pretend you didn’t like it “.
Ms Patel explained that this “frightening experience” happened just 60 seconds following she joined the virtual world owned by Meta.
The psychotherapist believes she was targeted simply because her avatar was a woman, an experience she described as “surreal” and “horrible”.
“They harassed me relentlessly and then proceeded to sexually assault my avatar,” she explained.
Real feelings
Horizon Worlds is owned by Meta, Mark Zuckerberg’s company. It is a free 3D world where avatars can explore and communicate with each other.
“The attack likely occurred in this case due to the anonymity and perceived lack of consequences in the virtual reality space,” Ms. Patel analyzed.
According to her, the feelings that such attacks can arouse are, however, very real.
Precedents
In Great Britain, the avatar of a 16-year-old girl was also recently the victim of gang rape in a virtual reality game. The player contacted the police following the attack. She was reportedly left completely distraught by the incident.
“The emotional and psychological impact of VR can be very authentic,” insisted Ms Patel.
Officers said she suffered the same psychological and emotional trauma as a raped person in the real world. The virtual reality experience is in fact designed to be completely immersive.
“The girl [qui a signalé son agression à la police] is very courageous, and she has crossed a new frontier,” said Ms. Patel.
A worrying report
SumOfUs, a nonprofit organization, published a report on issues related to hate speech and sexual assault in Horizons in May 2022.
The organization’s researcher was attacked less than an hour following using the platform.
“It happened so quickly that I dissociated. Part of my brain wondered what was going on, the other part said it wasn’t a real body, and another part said it was important research. the anonymous researcher.
A Meta spokesperson stressed that the researcher did not activate the personal boundary feature, a security tool that is activated by default and which prevents strangers from coming within a meter of your avatar.
The SumOfUs study revealed virtual touching and gang rape on the platform, as well as sexist, homophobic and racist comments, reports the Daily Mail.
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