VIRTUAL reality headsets are becoming a “new frontier” for sex offenders with children abused “on a daily basis”, experts have warned.
Police are currently probing the gang rape of a child’s video game character in the Metaverse.
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The horror crime is believed to be the first virtual sexual offence to be investigated by cops.
The girl, under the age of 16, is understood to have been left distraught and psychologically traumatised by the attack.
Users wear a virtual reality (VR) headset and interact with others through their playable avatars.
But experts have warned of a “growing problem” with child sex offenders “confident of avoiding repercussions” for virtual abuse.
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Verity McIntosh, academic and co-author of Child Safeguarding and Immersive Technologies study, said she believes sexual offending within the VR world has become “endemic”.
She told The Sun: “In our research we found lots of evidence of child sexual abuse and exploitation.
“Child sexual offenders are using VR as a new frontier. We knew it was an existing problem, but it is a problem that has grown and police are looking at it.
“Offenders see it is as a new environment. But we have seen it can move into the real world – it can carry from one to the next.
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“Offenders are confident there will be no repercussions.
“There’s an expectation you can behave differently to real life. It’s a perfect storm with younger people using them. It’s very difficult at the moment.”
Ms McIntosh co-authored a research commissioned by the children’s charity NSPCC to assess the present and future risks kids face when using VR.
She said the immersive technologies have the potential to positively impact society, but instead her research identified how children are already facing abuse and exploitation.
The lecturer added: “VR is very close to physical experience, it’s traumatic.
“We are at a tipping point. It is a prevalent problem that is not being taken seriously by platforms. It’s pushing people away.
“There are lots of unmoderated open world spaces – that’s the sort of space people tend to go, but it’s easy to come across those sorts of behaviours in those spaces.
“It’s not surprising that this case has come forward. It’s encouraging the person has felt completed to speak to police – previously people have not known how to react or when to come forward.
“Right now it’s endemic.”
ABUSE ON ‘A DAILY BASIS’
Her comments were backed by Nina Jane Patel, an award-winning psychotherapist and president of Research and Safety and co-founder of immersive learning tool Kabuni.
She revealed how she was abused in a the Horizon Venues virtual world, operated by Meta, after being surrounded by a group of male-presenting characters.
Ms Patel said the sexual abuse of children is happening in VR worlds “on a daily basis”.
She added: “I am not surprised we are having this conversation. It is happening on a daily basis.
“My first response was how brave the young person is to take it to police.
“I never thought my own case would be taken seriously by police.
“Before my experience, there were a plethora of cases and we are still talking about the issue now.
‘EMOTIONAL TRAUMA’
“We have to understand there’s a community of people using this tech for dark and in a way that is not parent-proofed.
“Children are getting taught that it’s okay to behave this way.
“It is teaching them that they’re not accountable for their actions. We can’t rely on these platforms to create a safe environment.”
Police say the girl allegedly gang raped in the Metaverse suffered psychological and emotional trauma.
The Metaverse, launched by Meta and Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg, is seen as the next major evolution of the internet.
But a senior officer working on the case said: “This child experienced psychological trauma similar to that of someone who has been physically raped.
“There is an emotional and psychological impact on the victim that is longer term than any physical injuries.
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“It poses a number of challenges for law enforcement given current legislation is not set up for this.”
A spokesman for Meta said: “The kind of behaviour described has no place on our platform, which is why for all users we have an automatic protection called personal boundary, which keeps people you don’t know a few feet away from you.”
This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
