Trust and Safety in Virtual Worlds

Warning: this episode features discussion of sexual assault and rape. This week’s podcast has two segments. We’re going to hear from Vice News reporter Carter Sherman about her story from last week titled “Woman Says She Was ‘Virtually Gang-Raped’ in Facebook's Metaverse,” detailing an incident that represents an early test of Facebook’s ability create a safe environment in its virtual world. Then, I speak with Dr. Carly Kocurek, a cultural historian specializing in the study of new media technologies and video gaming, about a science fiction story from 1993-A Rape in Cyberspace, written by Julian Dibbell- that presaged some of the questions we’re faced with when thinking about safety and abuse in virtual environments.