The Metaverse’s Evolving Legal Conundrum: Woman Claims She Was Groped In The Virtual Reality Venue

Social

Nina Jane Patel is Vice President of Metaverse Research at Kabuni, a company designing the “world’s safest metaverse for kids.”

Patel wrote a blog post claiming she was “verbally and sexually harassed” by “3–4 male avatars, with male voices,” who while in the Metaverse, “virtually gang raped my avatar and took photos — as I tried to get away they yelled — ‘don’t pretend you didn’t love it’ and ‘go rub yourself off to the photo'”

According to Business Insider Australia, a Meta spokesperson said via email, “We’re sorry to hear this happened. We want everyone in Horizon Venues to have a positive experience, and easily find the safety tools that can help in a situation like this – and help us investigate and take action.”

The spokesperson also said Patel didn’t use Meta’s reporting tools to potentially stop the incident. “Patel did not use the platform’s reporting tools, allowing users to block, mute, and report anyone near them.” Patel claimed she wasn’t able to use those tools fast enough. The Meta statement continued, “We will continue to make improvements as we learn more about how people interact in these spaces, especially when it comes to helping people report things easily and reliably.”

Next comes the question of legality and the alleged perpetrated actions. According to the Daily Mail, Nick Brett of London law firm Brett Wilson said, “Where a woman has been sexually assaulted virtually, that itself possibly ought to be illegal but isn’t at present.”

Schuyler Moore, Entertainment contributor on Forbes, highlighted in his article, “Every imaginable crime and tort that can be committed in the real world can be committed in the metaverse, particularly with multiple participants. There are already reported cases of theft of virtual items that can be traded for virtual or actual cash.”

Moore posed the question of what legal actions can be taken if such things occur in the virtual space. “What would be the outcome if one avatar raped another, and a user suffered post-traumatic stress syndrome as a result? What if it was a repeat offender and the metaverse company knew it? Such questions are not far off in our brave new metaverse world.”

Ciarán McCollum, in IoT For All, painted a picture of the Metaverse, comparing it to something akin to Ready Player One, where users are more invested in their online avatars than the real world. “The metaverse is designed to eventually be a place where users can essentially live.” 

In one scenario, McCollum gives an example where a man has been hacked and loses his life’s work in his virtual avatar. “Your employer requires that you log into the metaverse for work. One morning, many years hence, you find a hacker has destroyed your avatar, a painstakingly and expensively constructed artificial body. It can’t be restored. You miss an important meeting. Maybe you miss a week of them, or more, as you reel from the loss of your virtual investment, your virtual self. Who will compensate you? Will the miscreant be found? Will he be punished?” 

Legally speaking, these are new and uncharted territories being traversed. Many legal experts will need to have lengthy discussions about the legality of any such actions taken in the Metaverse and whether people can or should be prosecuted for actions they or their avatars commit in a virtual reality space.