Are sex offenders suppose to play second life?

[Madelaine McMasters]

Hi Shyann,

That sounds like a question for your local legal expert. Laws vary by jurisdiction and the restrictions placed on any particular person are likely to be different, as determined by the courts.

LL does not require anyone to reveal their RL identity when creating an account. So, there is no way to prevent anyone from joining SL. The same is true for most of the Internet.

LL does have an abuse reporting mechanism you can use if you encounter violations of the SL Terms of Service or Community Standards. You can also block/mute people who's behavior bothers you.

[Madelaine McMasters]

Hi Shyann,

That sounds like a question for your local legal expert. Laws vary by jurisdiction and the restrictions placed on any particular person are likely to be different, as determined by the courts.

LL does not require anyone to reveal their RL identity when creating an account. So, there is no way to prevent anyone from joining SL. The same is true for most of the Internet.

LL does have an abuse reporting mechanism you can use if you encounter violations of the SL Terms of Service or Community Standards. You can also block/mute people who's behavior bothers you.

[Syo Emerald]

Anyone with an internect connection and a suitable computer may join Second Life. In that aspect, Second Life is in no way different than other social gathering places on the internet.

[Rolig Loon]

The quick answer is no.  The TOS (Sect 6.3) states that you may be banned if you .....

(vii) If you are an adult, impersonate a minor for the purpose of interacting with a minor using the Service, or stalk, harass, or engage in any sexual, suggestive, lewd, lascivious, or otherwise inappropriate conduct with minors on the Service, or attempt to contact or meet with such minor outside the Service, including without limitation electronically or physically, if you have reason to know or Second Life concludes that you should have known you were interacting with a minor on the Service, or otherwise engage in any conduct that violates our Teen Safety Guidelines;

(viii) Post, display or transmit any material, object or text that encourages, represents, or facilitates sexual "age play," i.e., using child-like avatars in a sexualized manner. This activity is grounds for immediate termination. You may review our full Age Play Policy here. You understand and agree that we may report any and all such incidents -- and any and all of your corresponding personal information -- to any authorities we deem appropriate, whether or not it in and of itself violates the law of your (or any) jurisdiction;

However, as both Syo and Maddy have pointed out, there is no way for Linden Lab to know about your prior history of behavior, so there's no way to prevent a potential offender from entering SL.

[Innula Zenovka]

Depends on the jurisdiction in which the sex offender lives and the terms of his or her probation/parole etc.

For example, in England and Wales (where I have some professional knowledge of the subject), it would depend entirely on the circumstances of the individual case.   There's no rule about sex offenders using or not using the internet, but the prosecution or the police may ask the court to make a Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO), which is ancillary to any sentence, to control, or at least monitor, the offender's use of the internet.

I've never seen a SOPO that would prevent someone's using SL, at least if he stayed clear of G-rated lands so as to avoid intentional on-line contact with minors, other than the (quite rare) ones that pretty much ban all internet use, but it's quite possible an English SOPO would require the offender to provide his account details to the local police for monitoring.

LL don't, at least as far as I recall, ask people to declare any criminal records before creating an account.   The Terms Of Service may well give them the power to terminate someone's account for reasons not specifically related to SL, so probably if the police or probation service contact them about an account, they'll take action. 

However, I can't imagine they'd be prepared to act on a complaint that "In RL, Joe123 Resident is a registered sex offender."  How would the person reporting this know, and how would LL know the person reporting this was telling them the truth?

[kelis105]

yes

 

[Nalytha]

I am guessing you mean, are sex offenders allowed to play Second Life? I know of no rule which states they can not.