Ethics in Metaverse

The term “metaverse” originated in the 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash and in science fiction terms, Metaverse is a hypothetical single, universal, and immersive virtual world that is facilitated by the use of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) headsets. Despite its long-rooted origin in literature, for many of us, Mark Zuckerberg was the person who introduced us to Metaverse. Presented as the next evolution in social connection and the successor to the mobile internet, the Metaverse is a successor of Facebook’s previously developed virtual reality-based platform Facebook Horizon. Facebook’s move with Facebook Horizon in 2019 and Meta Platforms in 2021 only hints at the tech giant’s commitment to developing a socially integrated metaverse, a mixture of augmented and virtual reality with far more integration than video games can offer.

According to Gartner, 25% of people will spend at least one hour a day in the Metaverse by 2026. And by looking at technological integration in our lives, the prediction is well-forecasted. And Meta also admits and takes the issue seriously. But when real life and virtual reality collide, the question of ethical boundaries becomes inevitable. And already struggling with their controversial business model and privacy breaches with Facebook, Meta Platforms is undoubtedly taking a huge risk with Metaverse, not just in technical aspects but also in ethical and moral aspects. Promising an open platform that mimics life on earth, Meta is planning to bring science fiction to reality, but can our ethical grounds support the principles?

Ethics – how we define it

In the simplest of terms, ethics are moral principles that govern a person’s behaviour or the conduct of an activity. In a much broader term, ethics refers to well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues. But ethics cannot be bound by all socially acceptable factors or even laws and religious standards. Although law aims to serve citizens holding ethics at its core, laws vary from country to country and not always represent what’s ethically acceptable. The same goes with religion; although religions hold high ethical standards, ethics does not confine its definition within just religious boundaries. Rather it spreads further in the branches.

Why & how ethics is a concern

The concerns related to ethics that we may face are often concerns that we face in real life too. Concerns of privacy breaches, social inequalities, theft, and economic turmoils are real-life struggles and raise questions of ethics, and in Metaverse, as a mimic of the real world, these problems are bound to happen as well. But

The definition of data

Technological advancements have changed our definition of data over the years. Data is not bound to a bunch of text, images, spreadsheets, and numbers anymore, but they are personalized identifiers involved as data now. Data sorts like biometrics in fingerprints, retina scans, voiceprints, facial geometry, and Social security numbers are used heavily around the world to recognize a person now. Although the thoughts behind these credentials are for a better and more secure social service that helps citizens lead a life full of social and economic benefits, it is still being determined how these data will apply to Metaverse. As sophisticated as these data are, their breach can cause severe legal actions and security threats. And given that Metaverse is a computer-generated platform, the risk of hacking and harm increases as we adapt to Metaverse.

Personal Boundary

Metaverse promises a world where every object will have its representations in formats of Avatars of assets, and the issue of a personal boundary rises even higher. Meta, for example, went public with its decision to introduce a “personal boundary” feature after psychotherapist Nina Jane Patel experienced a virtual attack on her avatar, logging into Meta’s predecessor Facebook Horizons. The new feature allows

Author- Subeh Tarek