03 January 2024
After recent reports of a Police investigation into the serious assault of a young woman’s avatar by another gamer, an article in The Times today makes concerning reading.
Sean Russell writes about some of the harmful behaviour female gamers often encounter in virtual spaces, based on his experiences as both a male and female avatar.
On whether women should simply stop playing games if they encounter abusive behaviour, Russell makes a great point:
“I would say it is a matter of requiring a new vocabulary to talk about these things. If a young woman cannot sit down in what is probably the safest place she has, her home, to play a game she enjoys, perhaps it’s not as easy as turning the game off. Perhaps the invasive psychological damage is done before any “act” has taken place.”
I’m old enough to remember the case of Mr Bungle in 1993, where a subprogram was used in the LambdaMOO Multi-User Dungeon (MUD) to carry out really disturbing behaviour online. But Russell’s piece today suggests these problems may be even more widespread than previously believed.
Today also saw initial results of a study on teenagers’ use of social media, by Dr Amy Orben at the University of Cambridge. According to The Independent, of 7,000 people surveyed aged 16-18, 48% agreed or strongly agreed with the statement “I think I am addicted to social media.”
The practicalities of policing online spaces are complex, in particular when balancing competing rights, including user privacy.
However, as Ofcom publishes guidance on the UK’s Online Safety Act, and enforcement of the EU’s Digital Services Act begins to take shape, it seems there are still serious questions around online safety for young people, particularly young women.