In honor of the Women’s National Month in the Philippines, I am posting this article to raise awareness on the continuing violence committed against women (biological and trans) and the LGBTQIAs online. I am an advocate against any form of this violence for most of my adult life, and I have successfully handled all the sexual harassment cases where I represented the women and LGBTQIA victims.
In 2021, the Worldwide Web Foundation (WWWF) published a letter that was signed by over 200 influential women all over the world. It was actually a pledge to end the “pandemic of online abuse against women and girls”. The entity then known as FaceBook, Google, TikTok and Twitter all came out with statements that align with the pledge. Unfortunately, like all promises made by tech giants sealed in the ethers of the Internet, none of these have yet to be actualized in concrete mechanisms and measurable metrics.
The recognition though, that this form of abuse is of “pandemic” proportions was a long time coming. Remember the case of Brianna Wu, one of the targets of male organized online violence (Gamergate) against women in the video gaming industry? She was subjected to relentless online death and rape threats, on a daily basis and was forced to flee her house with her husband after her address was doxed, all because she was a woman who made a well-received successful videogame.
Anita Sarkeesian’s online critical comments about the male dominated videogame industry and the violent games created by men had earned her unceasing online rape and death threats, racist and sexist comments, and like Wu, was forced to leave her house and had to forego a speaking engagement at the Utah State University after receiving messages that she would be gunned down, and it would be the biggest massacre in an American university.
Literature and anecdotes around the world abound concerning the constant online abuse received by women and girls who play online games like Call of Duty, Valorant, and Xbox Live, etc. Just recently, Alex Hanna wrote “On Racialized Tech Organizations and Complaint: A Goodbye to Google” and alluded how “white tech” supremacist organizations like Google, Meta, Amazon, Apple and Microsoft treat black people, particularly black women, queers, trans, those with disabilities, and indigenes (February 3, 2022, Medium.com). It must be mentioned that the recent 2022 acquisition by Microsoft of the gaming company Activision had caused a stir because of the many sexual and racial discrimination complaints levelled against this company by its employees.
In the Internet that most people know today, such online abuse may consist only of words, sound and images (moving or not). But in the third iteration of the Internet (or Web 3.0), which has been dubbed as the “Metaverse”, all of these may translate into something that the victim can literally feel.
In my March 14, 2022 Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) lecture for the 280 plus lawyers from the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) via Zoom, administered by the UPIAJ, I seized the opportunity to discuss, in my lecture on “Cyberlaw Ethics”, some of the legal and ethical issues that we would all be confronted with when the metaverse becomes something more, and real, than the holograms presented by Mark Zuckerberg, when he changed the old “FaceBook” into the new “Meta” last October 2021.
Dr. Atty. Ramiscal’s MCLE Lecture on “Cyberlaw Ethics” for OSG lawyers, March 14, 2022
“Metaverse” was actually a term coined by Neal Stephenson in his 1992 novel “Snow Crash”. If realized, it would definitely be more than an extension of the virtual reality, that some people have now become so used to, or had actually began to live their actual lives in. Through virtual and augmented reality technologies that are pluggable or wearable like headphones with goggles, people can participate in this “virtual world” and have experiences that simulate “live” events, replete with human emotions and gestures. The crucial difference is, unlike any other video game that can be paused or finished, the metaverse has an independent existence from all the players that populate it. The virtual interaction will mean that a plugged-in human being is able to react to the virtual objects as if they are real.
FULL DISCLOSURE
The “metaverse”, at least the one that “Meta”, Microsoft, Epic Fortnite, Roblox and other current players are pushing for is not really new. Versions of earlier metaverses have existed and some are still around. A good example of this is “Second Life” which started in 2003, in which I have to admit, I joined almost a decade ago.
Dr. Atty. Ramiscal’s Screenshot of Second Life homepage circa 2014
It is not a game, it is actually a virtual world that one can explore and connect with other beings through avatars. My avatar is still male (you can choose or create your own avatar, of any gender, of any specie, with any look that moves your fancy) and apparently a “human” (as opposed to a god/goddess/vampire/wolf/beast).
An avatar does not come with genitals. One can choose some free ones, which may not be a perfect fit, size, shape or color. One can create a customized penis or vagina with the perfect skin tone if one knows how to use the LSL, the Second Life computer language. But to make it easy, one can buy the desired genital with the currency “Linden” dollars. Of course, to experience some form of virtual sexual intimacy, not only do you have to download Second Life, you must know how to use your avatar’s sexual organ, and sex toys that one can buy inworld. Don’t worry, there are instructions, and “parlors” for these, as well as other avatars who can service you for a tip.
SEX AND VIOLENCE IN THE METAVERSE
Since Second Life has been in existence for quite a while (two decades), the rules of engagement and enjoyment of virtual sex have become sort of laid down. One does not encounter any significant literature of sexual violence regarding Second Life. But in the bigger metaverse, which still has yet to become fully realized, its beta stage had already produced the first claim of virtual rape. And where did this happen? Of course, in Zuckerberg’s Meta.
Screenshot of portion of https://www.ninajanepatel.com
Nina Jane Patel, the VP of Metaverse Research of Kabuni, who is a beta tester of Meta’s Horizon Worlds, shared with Medium.com in December 21, 2021 her “virtual rape”:
…Within 60 seconds of joining — I was verbally and sexually harassed — 3–4 male avatars, with male voices, essentially, but 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”. A horrible experience that happened so fast and before I could even think about putting the safety barrier in place. I froze. It was surreal. It was a nightmare.
I have no idea how Meta will implement “virtual intimacy” across its Horizon Worlds. According to Nina Patel, they’re aiming for the five senses, so the player/gamer can even experience the “smell” of a virtual good or act. I know that there are ever improving VR goggles, and even jackets that a player can wear, by which s/he can physically experience the pain of a virtual bullet.
More than just the “skins” of Second Life, will Meta strive for devices that a player can strap on the genitals to feel the sensations of penetrating, or being penetrated?
Dr. Atty. Ramiscal Screenshot with some OSG lawyers in his MCLE lecture, March 14 2022
As I told the OSG lawyers, there is actually no precedent as to how the Philippine law will account for virtual rape. “Rape” as a crime in the Philippines under R.A. 8353, is punishable upon proof that any of the victim’s orifices, that can include the mouth, vagina, or anus, was forcibly and physically penetrated by the accused with the use of any instrument or object, without the victim’s consent.
We must consider the words of Nina Patel who summed up the reality of how she felt about the virtual rape:
Virtual reality has essentially been designed so the mind and body can’t differentiate virtual/digital experiences from real. In some capacity, my physiological and psychological response was as though it happened in reality.
So, feeling the rape from a virtual assault, is obviously not the same as physically experiencing it, but the trauma induced by the virtual experience, is nonetheless, and undeniably real.
We must also consider the perpetrator here. Do we now assign criminal liability to avatars, or more accurately, the owners of avatars, who may reside in jurisdictions that Philippine courts may not be able to reach.
To my fellow advocates of the rights and interests of women and LGBTQIAs, may this seminal missive of mine on this topic alert you, and put you on guard, that our work would become even more nuanced, complex and challenging, once the Metaverse being pushed for by the likes of Meta, arrives. If you have any comments as to how we can counter or respond to this by legal means, please comment below.
Thank you for reading this far.
Dr. Atty. Ramiscal, with comments from some OSG lawyers, March 14 2022 MCLE LECTURE
A big shout out to all the OSG lawyers (it was my second time to lecture for them) whose appreciative comments about the innovativeness of my lecture, my style, and my “sharp” looks, have certainly added more spring to my stride! God Bless You All!
Philippine Law Bytes: TheCyberLawyer Issues by Dr. Attorney Noel Guivani Ramiscal 