RE: Will "Virtual Rape" be made into a crime?
Long story but I found it interesting! So you don’t advocate for stricter laws on the internet? In your first quotation the woman reportedly experienced both sexual harassment and sexism. For only one of which you are required to know the persons gender. And for the other one, harassment, it becomes increasingly worse the more personal this virtual reality becomes.
As for physical rape, the virtual reality would have to engage with our physical senses and at that point I think it definitely has to be treated as such. And before that I would argue it’s important to recognize that you can harass or threaten someone the same with words, over the phone, on Facebook or in the virtual realities of games. Doesn't it really just comes down to how real the treats could be and how personal the attacks were?
You answered it. I don't advocate the personalization of every online interaction. I also don't assume the locus of control is somehow missing. A participant should be able to control their experience within the rules of the virtual world as easy as it is to change the channel on TV if an annoying commercial, or change the radio station if an annoying song.
Ok thank you for answering aswell then. I like your idea. As long as you’re not identifiable and the avatars used doesn’t have any value or reputation to threaten for.
But not much of an VR, more like anonymous chatting. And even then again, if it is social at all it’s going to be hard to make it impossible to identify yourself via it. You can of coarse encourage people to keep safe, but if they don’t anyway, I don’t think we should be victim blaming online either.