The UK’s NCA Boss Says Rape and Murder in the Metaverse Could Be Treated as Crime

Quick take:

The NCA boss said rape and murder committed in virtual reality can cause a real-life impact on the victims.

Biggar told the UK’s Evening Standard that his agency is already working out how to police the metaverse.

According to Biggar, metaverse users wearing a haptic suit will be able to feel the physical impact of a rape or murder.

The UK’s National Crime Agency has asked law enforcers to prepare for potential metaverse-based crimes that might have real-life physical impact on the victims. The NCA director general Graeme Biggar told the Evening Standard in an interview that rapes and murders committed in virtual reality in the metaverse might have to be treated as criminal offences.

According to Biggar, metaverse users wearing a haptic suit will be able to feel the physical impact of a rape or murder. A haptic suit allows a wearer to sense actions carried out in virtual reality.

Although the NCA is busy dealing with real-world crime, his agency is already working out how to police the metaverse. “We are beginning to think about what is a crime in the Metaverse and how we police it,” Mr Biggar said.

“It’s not dominating our thinking because there is plenty of real-world crime for us to be getting on with, but if you are in the Metaverse wearing a haptic suit where you can sense what is happening to and then you are sexually assaulted, raped or murdered, even if you are not wearing a haptic suit is that ok?”

According to the NCA boss, if a metaverse abuse victim is wearing a haptic suit, the victim would feel a physical manifestation of the rape or murder.

“All of those, there’s the beginnings of them now but the potential for them in the future and that is part of what we need to prepare for, to help people reap the benefits of exciting technological developments, while still staying safe.”

The statement came as part of a wider interview about the potential benefits and risks of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, which has given rise to popular applications like ChatGPT and Google Bard.

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