ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½

A police force has reportedly launched what’s thought to be the first UK investigation into the alleged sexual assault of a young girl's avatar in the Metaverse.

The impact of the attack on the girl's avatar was said to be heightened because of the immersive nature of the VR experience.

Researcher Nina Jane Patel had something similar happen to her on a VR platform operated by Meta.

"I was within one minute had five male representing avatars with male voices come to me start with verbal and sexual harassment and then proceeded to what can only be described as sexual assault on my avatar".

She said that VR platforms isn't a game anymore, instead a social environment where things like assault can happen.

In response, 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."

The National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) wrote "we must see much more action from tech companies to do more to make their platforms safe places".

This clip was originally from Naga Munchetty 3 December 2024.

Listen back on ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Sounds.

Show less