This Note contains candid discussions with descriptions of sexual assault and sexual misconduct to further the Note’s argument in favor of criminal punishment of certain behaviors in virtual settings such as the metaverse. Such descriptive discussions may be triggering and distressing for some readers. Reader discretion is advised. Additionally, this Note takes a holistic approach to addressing sexual assault in the metaverse. While the Note acknowledges that female users are inordinately affected and mainly shares examples and data involving female subjects, the Note nevertheless recognizes that sexual assault impacts individuals of all genders. The purpose of this Note is not only to propose a criminal penalty for sexual assault in the metaverse, but to promote inclusivity and understanding for all virtual sexual assault survivors, regardless of sex and gender.
The concept of a metaverse dates to 1992 when American author Neal Stephenson published a science-fiction book called Snow Crash, where he successfully predicted that a digital universe would one day exist adjacent to the real world. Three decades later, Stephenson’s prediction is coming to life as tech giants like Meta and Microsoft are designing a parallel, virtual world known as the metaverse. By 2030, the metaverse could host sixty percent of the world’s population (approximately five billion users) and be valued at 13 trillion dollars. What is considered the metaverse today is only a taste of a future where such an immersive virtual world will become an integral part of society. The possibilities of exploration, creation, and connection present the metaverse in an optimistic light. For example, users can currently purchase and invest in virtual real estate, host virtual social events, buy and sell virtual goods, and gain virtual employment for real compensation in the form of Bitcoin or other cryptocurrency.
A universal definition of the metaverse does not exist yet. However, the term generally refers to a virtual world, comprised of both virtual and augmented realities and blockchain technologies where users can work, socialize, network, and interact as they would in the real world. Companies like Meta, Fortnite, and Roblox have been imitating metaverse-like environments for years. As of now, the metaverse simply exists as a “primordial soup of lots of big and small companies banging into each other.” Nonetheless, the creation of one unified virtual universe seems inevitable. But the virtual society first imagined by Neal Stephenson is proving to be no sort of utopia.