By Manon Lagana
The new future of social media is the Metaverse. Social networks take it to a next level by introducing the Metaverse, a virtual environment where people can interact, learn and play using technologies such as Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Smart Glasses. But the implementation of these features is problematic as they are susceptible to cyberattacks, fraud, sexual harassment, privacy concerns and an increase of social exclusion.
In October 2021, Facebook announced that it is planning to rebrand and change its name to “Meta”. The brand new name represents the intention to focus its business on the Metaverse. Basically, Metaverse will be a virtual world, where people will be able to buy virtual items, such as pixel clothes, or virtual real estate, or attend concerts, or lectures in the Meta spaces of their universities, or even work or visit digital places for any purpose. Later, the Facebook Metaverse user interaction, one of the key features of the social media, will be brought to a higher level with users being able to interact amongst each other through avatars.
According to Mark Zuckerberg, the Metaverse is the next evolution of social media. In the Meta 3D spaces, people, who will be displayed as 3D avatars, will be able to interact, learn and play with technologies such as Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Smart Glasses.
Although the Metaverse technologies may seem exciting, some considerations need to be made in regards to their use. Here are the five main critical aspects of the Metaverse:
1. Cyberattacks
One of the most critical aspects is Meta cybersecurity. Cyberattacks are a widespread concern with users potentially using traditional techniques such as phishing, malware, and hacking, or even more sophisticated weapon systems involving crypto-concurrency and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
2. Fraud
A great number of fraud could occur in the Facebook Metaverse, among which are identity theft and crypto-concurrency theft. Notably, as it is unclear whether the Metaverse will comply with the Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR), identity theft may also become a major data protection concern. And, crypto-concurrency theft could be one of the most extensive frauds, since it is now possible to conclude transactions only paying in virtual money or crypto-concurrency as Bitcoin or Ethereum.
It should be stressed that central banks, as the European Central Bank (ECB) still have to analyze the technical issues necessary for creating virtual money, or better said digital concurrency. So, in the next few years probably we will have in Europe a digital version of Euro as well as a rising number of crypto-concurrencies.However, there is a substantial difference between virtual money or better said digital concurrency and crypto-concurrency.
Firstly, the digital concurrency is issued centrally and is backed by its central bank. In the case of the Digital Euro is released by the European Central Bank (ECB). On the other hand, crypto-concurrency is created by the user themselves and the value of this concurrency is set by the market. In addition to that, the crypto-concurrency is not backed by a legal entity that it responds, for instance if technical troubles come up.
Secondly, the digital concurrency would have the same value of the physical money and volatility would be avoided, due to the fact that it would be issued and later would be monitored by the European Central Bank. But, on the contrary, the crypto-concurrency value is changing continuously and it is extremely volatile, because it acts in an immature market.
Therefore, it would be preferable to conclude transactions in the future Facebook Metaverse using digital concurrency than crypto-concurrency. Or otherwise, could be prevented fraud related to the crypto-concurrency payments only governing this sector at the European level.
3. Sexism, Sexual Harassment, and Cyber-rape
Last year, Catherine Allen, a popular media consultant, had her avatar waiting in a Meta lobby to participate in a concert when a group of men showed up. They started harassing her to the extent that they threatened her by saying that they were enough men to gang rape her. This serious incident shows that, without any specific regualtions on the Metaverse, sexist behaviours, sexual harassment and even cyber-rape could happen frequently in this virtual environment.
4. Privacy Concerns
The use of avatars, or new technologies such as Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Smart Glasses in the Metaverse could involve the processing of data that is vastly different from the current Facebook data treatment.Indeed, Meta or third-parties could misuse extremely sensitive data that could jeopardize user privacy.In addition, as it is still unsure whether the Metaverse will comply to the GPR or other national data protection framework, this data processing may be incompatible with existing data protection frameworks. Considering possible further developments of the Facebook Metaverse, users' privacy could be put at even higher risks due to a potential regulatory gap in the future.
5. Increase of Social Exclusion
The use of the Meta technologies could increase an already-existing social divide.In this respect, it should be emphasised that not all users will afford to purchase Meta houses or other virtual items, or even will be able to participate in concerts. More specifically, this could entail the increase in social exclusion to transcend to virtual spaces, creating situations of extreme poverty and marginalization in both the real and the virtual world.
Ultimately, it is clear that the Facebook Metaverse could certainly bring challenges for its users. Hopefully, some of these expected concerns that will most likely become reality with the spread of the Metaverse, we hope that they can – at least in part – be overcome by introducing specific regulations that are tailored for the Metaverse.
What do you think about the Metaverse? We would love to know your opinion and thoughts on this, so let us know in the comments or feel free to reach out to us!
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Manon Lagana. Manon Eleonora is a PhD student in Information Technology Law and Privacy Law at the University of Valencia (Spain). Previously, she earned a master’s degree in International Law and European Union at the University of Valencia and obtained a master’s degree in Law and the “Iuris Doctor” qualification at the University of Pisa (Italy). As part of the BridgeEurope blog team her goal is to update on European policies, legislations, or relevant facts involving the European institutions. Her blog articles will be structured in order to start a discussion with her audience, who will be invited to comment on the post.
BridgeEurope Blog serves as a platform for reflection and discussion on current topics. The opinions expressed in the blog represent the view of the authors solely and not the view of BridgeEurope.