Danica Davidson
September 8, 2022 
Virtual Bishojo Nem, a Japanese VTuber, and Mila, a Swiss VTuber anthropologist also known as Liudmila Bredikhina, have teamed up on a survey about harassment in virtual reality. The NPO Virtual Rights group in Japan is also attached as an official supporter.
The survey is available in either English or Japanese. It explains its purpose:
“This survey investigates harassment in social VR. Our purpose is to visualise the reality of harassment in the Metaverse and provide factual data to make our lives in the Metaverse freer and safer and more enjoyable. The results of the survey will be published as a report and will not disclose any personal information.”
In order to be eligible, you need to speak either English or Japanese, and “have used social VR (VRChat, RecRoom, Neos VR, etc) with a head-mounted display at least 5 times in the last year”.
The survey began on September 5, and will be around until September 24. These are the topics it covers:
“ 1) Do users actually encounter harassment? If so, what kind of harassment?
2) Does the user’s gender and sexuality impact their safety?
3) How do users deal with unwanted behavior, and to what extent does it impact them?”
It will take an estimated 3-7 minutes for someone to answer the survey, and you can only answer the survey once. People are also encouraged to share the survey with others. It does not ask for personal information, and in fact tells you not to give any.
Virtual Bishojo Nem and Mila worked together on two previous surveys: “How did COVID-19 accelerate virtual communication?” and “Social VR Lifestyle Survey.”
To see the survey and read all its details, please go here.
As we’ve seen, even Virtual YouTubers face online harassment, and in Japan, they can win defamation lawsuits.
Source: ANN
____
Danica Davidson is the author of the bestselling Manga Art for Beginners with artist Melanie Westin, plus its sequel, Manga Art for Everyone, and the first-of-its-kind manga chalk book Chalk Art Manga, both illustrated by professional Japanese mangaka Rena Saiya. Check out her other comics and books at www.danicadavidson.com.
Related Posts
