MUMBAI: As society grapples with the alarming realities of automated grooming, manipulation and virtual crimes, it becomes clear that a multifaceted approach is required to protect our children from the perils of the digital realm.
Virtual abuse of children can occur across a wide array of digital platforms and mediums. This form of abuse can be deeply traumatic, affecting a child’s psychological, emotional and sometimes physical well-being.
FORMS OF ONLINE ABUSE
Online abuse encompasses various forms of abuse such as:
* Sexual Abuse and Exploitation: This includes coercing or manipulating children into sexual activities or producing sexual content. Perpetrators may use previously acquired explicit material to blackmail the child into further compliance.
* Emotional Abuse: Persistent harassment, threatening messages, or manipulation can cause significant emotional and psychological harm to children.
* Exposure to Harmful Content: Deliberately exposing children to violent, disturbing or adult content can also be a form of abuse, impacting their mental health and development.
* Grooming: Predators may build a relationship with a child under false pretenses, often concealing their true age and intentions. They may provide gifts, sympathize with personal issues and gain the child’s trust to manipulate them for sexual or other abusive purposes.
As technology evolves and becomes more integrated into daily life, the avenues for potential abuse also expand. Some of the primary platforms and mediums where virtual abuse can happen include (a) Social Media Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. (b) Messaging Apps such as WhatsApp, Snapchat, and Telegram, which offer end-to-end encryption, are often used for sexting and private communications. (c) Online Gaming Platforms (d) Chat Rooms and Forums. (e) Video Sharing Platforms like YouTube, Vimeo, and similar platforms (f) Email (g) Dating Apps (h) Educational Technologies Platforms used for online learning can also be misused. For instance, sharing inappropriate content through file-sharing features or harassing students through chat functions in virtual classrooms. (i) File Sharing Networks Peer-to-peer (P2P) networks and other file-sharing services can be used to distribute illegal content, including child exploitation material. (j) Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) open new avenues for immersive forms of harassment or abuse, where the sense of presence can make experiences particularly intense or damaging.
1. Online Gaming Platforms are popular among children and teens and offer communication features like voice and text chat which can expose users to potential risks.
Types of Abuse:
* Grooming: Predators may use the anonymity and social nature of online games to befriend minors. They often pose as peers to gain trust and later manipulate the child for sexual or other exploitative purposes.
* Cyberbullying: Harassment in online games can occur in the form of verbal abuse, exclusionary practices, or through aggressive in-game actions.
* Scamming: Children might be tricked into giving away personal information or access to parental credit cards under the guise of gaining in-game advantages.
Prevention Measures:
* Use of Privacy Settings: Encouraging the use of privacy settings to manage who can communicate with the child.
* Parental Supervision: Monitoring the gaming activity and understanding who the children are interacting with online.
* Education: Teaching children about the risks of sharing personal information and how to recognize inappropriate behavior.
2. Social Media Platforms connect millions worldwide, including children and teenagers, making them susceptible to various forms of online abuse.
Types of Abuse:
* Cyberbullying: Through comments, direct messages, or shared posts, users can target and harass others.
* Sexting and Image-based Abuse: Sharing or threatening to share explicit images without consent.
* Grooming: Predators may use fake profiles to initiate conversations with minors, gradually building a relationship intended for exploitation.
Prevention Measures:
* Critical Thinking Skills: Educating young users about the importance of questioning the authenticity of online profiles and the motives behind private messages.
* Security Settings: Encouraging the use of strong privacy settings to control who can see posts and send messages.
* Reporting and Blocking: Familiarizing children with the process for reporting inappropriate content and blocking unwanted users.
3. Dating Apps, though intended for adult use, minors sometimes use or gain access to dating apps, putting them at risk of serious abuses.
Types of Abuse:
* Sexual Predation: Adults may intentionally seek out minors for exploitation.
* Sextortion: Using a received image or information from the minor to blackmail them into further compliance or contact.
* Misrepresentation: Older users may pretend to be much younger, manipulating actual minors who believe they are interacting with peers.
Prevention Measures:
* Age Verification: Strengthening age verification processes to prevent minors from accessing these platforms.
* Education on Legality and Safety: Informing young people about the legal implications and personal risks of interacting on adult platforms.
* Parental Monitoring: Keeping an eye on the apps installed on children’s devices and discussing the dangers associated with dating apps.
UNDERSTANDING VIRTUAL ABUSE IN THE METAVERSE
Incidents of what some refer to as “virtual touch” or “virtual rape” in digital environments like the metaverse are considered forms of virtual abuse. These terms refer to unwanted and non-consensual interactions within virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) environments, where the immersive nature of these technologies can make such experiences particularly intense and disturbing.
Online sexual assault date back to 1993, originating from a text-based platform known as LambdaMOO. It was within this platform that one character infamously utilized a virtual voodoo doll to coerce other players into engaging in sexual acts, ultimately leading to the conceptualization of the term “virtual rape” in today’s technology world.
The metaverse and similar virtual spaces are designed to be highly immersive, often involving avatars that represent users in a three-dimensional digital world. These environments can mimic real-world interactions very closely, and as such, they also open up possibilities for new forms of harassment and abuse:
1. Virtual Assault: This can occur when one user’s avatar is forced into non-consensual acts by another avatar. Even though there’s no physical contact, the psychological impact on the user experiencing this can be profound because of the immersive and realistic nature of the environment.
2. Harassment and Stalking: Users can be followed around, harassed, or threatened in these virtual spaces, much like they can be in real life or other online platforms.
3. Manipulation and Grooming: The anonymity and escapism offered by virtual worlds can also be exploited to manipulate or groom especially younger or more vulnerable users.
STEPS FOR PROTECTION AND REDRESS
1. Platforms that host virtual environments need robust community guidelines and active moderation to quickly address reports of abuse.
2. Effective and easily accessible reporting mechanisms should be in place so that users can report abusive behavior promptly.
3. Users should be educated about the potential for abuse in virtual environments and encouraged to take precautions such as using privacy settings to control who can interact with them.
4. Developers can design VR and AR environments with safety features, such as “personal boundaries” that prevent avatars from coming too close to each other without consent.
5. There is an ongoing need for legal frameworks to evolve in response to new technologies. Need for lawmakers to consider how existing laws against harassment and abuse might apply in virtual environments, or whether new laws are needed.
As virtual reality technology becomes more widespread, understanding and addressing the unique challenges of virtual abuse will be crucial. This involves not only technological solutions and regulations but also fostering a culture of respect and consent within these new digital spaces.
The first case of rape/sexual crimes in the metaverse was reported last year in london where london police probe into a sex assault has sparked discussions about the impact of virtual crimes on real individuals and the crucial need to safeguard the virtual realm. Based on media reports it appears that the assault took place within a virtual-reality (VR) video game.
As the internet has grown and evolved, so too have the platforms within the metaverse, becoming increasingly realistic and immersive with increase in the incidents of virtual abuse, its pressing need to answer questions about how companies and law enforcement agencies can effectively police this new digital frontier.
While this technology offers unique and exciting possibilities, it also presents new challenges in terms of ensuring safety and preventing harm. As the incidents of virtual abuse have become more prevalent, it underscores the urgent need for effective policing and regulation within virtual worlds to safeguard users, particularly minors, from enduring such traumatic experiences.
As society grapples with the alarming realities of automated grooming, manipulation and virtual crimes, it becomes clear that a multifaceted approach is required to protect our children from the perils of the digital realm. By raising awareness, implementing robust legal frameworks, investing in technological solutions, and establishing support systems for victims, we can strive towards creating a safer digital environment for our most vulnerable. The time to act is now, as we stand at a critical juncture in safeguarding our children from the insidious dangers facilitated by AI-driven virtual abuse.
Khushbu Jain is a practicing advocate in the Supreme Court and founding partner of the law firm, Ark Legal. She can be contacted on X: @advocatekhushbu