Dutch prosecutors: Second Life is “a school for pedophiles”

At the moment, the Dutch prosecutor’s office as well as four political parties in the Netherlands, are all up in arms against virtual pedophilia. Specifically, they are requesting to ban virtual sex with virtual minors within the realm of the MMORPG, Second Life. In fact, Jos Buschman of the Van Mesdag clinic in Groningen, has even gone as far as to say that the game is “by definition a school for pedophiles”.

As a bit of a background before we move on, one has to be aware that since 2002, Dutch legislators have made virtual child pornography, or “Kinderporno”, a criminal offense. Violators of this law may face a penalty of up to four years in prison or more, if they are proven guilty. The scope of this law includes “simulated” child pornography, and by “simulated”, this could be anything from a convincing image of a child which was purely rendered digitally (no actual underaged model was used in the process, or it was not based on an actual child), to images or media which feature adults who perform or participate in lewd or sexual acts, while disguised as children.

While many have argued that these do not inflict actual harm on children and that it may even infringe on one’s freedom of expression (as it is considered in the U.S.), the propagators of this law have argued back that such material, though it may be only simulated, may “encourage child molesters and, when shown to a child, may give the child the impression that the depicted acts are normal”. (Quote, as taken from Wikipedia’s entry on the subject.)

So, with that in mind, the Dutch government now wants a crackdown on child avatars in Second Life, who offer virtual sex services to other players for a fee. Faced with this issue, Linden Lab vice president of community development Robin Harper has noted that “if Second Life has evidence of child pornography or abuse that involves children in the real world, it will act to protect the child and notify the authorities”. But what happens when all you’ve got are a bunch of adults who happen to have sexual preferences which they only act out online? Many have recently pointed out that in the game, all there is to find would be adults who happen to role-play as children, and many state that there can ONLY be adults within the game as you have to be of legal age to join the game in the first place.

At this time, many members of online communities are divided on whether or not this move is beneficial to everyone in the long run. One side states that possible child molesters should not be encouraged by the activities that they encounter online, while the other half believes that trying to prosecute people for their ideas which they explore via non-harmful means, instead of prosecuting them for what they actually carry out in real life, is unfair.

At the moment, the Dutch prosecutor’s office as well as four political parties in the Netherlands, are all up in arms against virtual pedophilia. Specifically, they are requesting to ban virtual sex with virtual minors within the realm of the MMORPG, Second Life. In fact, Jos Buschman of the Van Mesdag clinic in Groningen, has even gone as far as to say that the game is “by definition a school for pedophiles”.

As a bit of a background before we move on, one has to be aware that since 2002, Dutch legislators have made virtual child pornography, or “Kinderporno”, a criminal offense. Violators of this law may face a penalty of up to four years in prison or more, if they are proven guilty. The scope of this law includes “simulated” child pornography, and by “simulated”, this could be anything from a convincing image of a child which was purely rendered digitally (no actual underaged model was used in the process, or it was not based on an actual child), to images or media which feature adults who perform or participate in lewd or sexual acts, while disguised as children.

While many have argued that these do not inflict actual harm on children and that it may even infringe on one’s freedom of expression (as it is considered in the U.S.), the propagators of this law have argued back that such material, though it may be only simulated, may “encourage child molesters and, when shown to a child, may give the child the impression that the depicted acts are normal”. (Quote, as taken from Wikipedia’s entry on the subject.)

So, with that in mind, the Dutch government now wants a crackdown on child avatars in Second Life, who offer virtual sex services to other players for a fee. Faced with this issue, Linden Lab vice president of community development Robin Harper has noted that “if Second Life has evidence of child pornography or abuse that involves children in the real world, it will act to protect the child and notify the authorities”. But what happens when all you’ve got are a bunch of adults who happen to have sexual preferences which they only act out online? Many have recently pointed out that in the game, all there is to find would be adults who happen to role-play as children, and many state that there can ONLY be adults within the game as you have to be of legal age to join the game in the first place.

At this time, many members of online communities are divided on whether or not this move is beneficial to everyone in the long run. One side states that possible child molesters should not be encouraged by the activities that they encounter online, while the other half believes that trying to prosecute people for their ideas which they explore via non-harmful means, instead of prosecuting them for what they actually carry out in real life, is unfair.