I’d go so far as to argue that technical features which “prevent” harassment (such as having to grant permission to be interacted with) – and even technical features which allow for blocking after the fact – create a veil of Cover Your Ass for the service provider. It enables the victim blaming.
Virtual assault is still assault. What we really need is accountability and actual consequences. Social solutions for social problems. Technical solutions for technical problems.
Graphical avatar chat has a history back into the 80s, and these harassment problems extend that far back in time as well. There’s a lot of knowledge gained back then that seems to be overlooked now.
