The Russian authorities are exploring the possibility of regulation in the metaverses – game multiplayer spaces that are actively developed by Western IT players, for example, Meta (former Facebook company).
About the study of the Scientific and Technical Center GRCHTS (Roskomnadzor) writes “Kommersant“.
The authors of the study compiled a list of risks. For example, the use of digital currencies in such spaces will encourage the transgression of political boundaries, as tax codes and regulations cannot govern sales.
Another risk is the emergence of marketplaces with illicit goods, such as drugs.
Virtual avatars, which will be used by the “inhabitants” of the metaverses, carry risks for the leakage of personal data.
“Using augmented reality (XR) to sense tactile impulses is also reimagining the experience of cybersex, and there is a threat in the possibilities of cybersex with minors, the formation of various deviations,” the study says.
Metaverses also contribute to the emergence of “virtual political reality, virtual political parties, new forms of agitation and protest,” the GRFC fears. Roskomnadzor told Kommersant that “it is necessary to develop mechanisms for self-regulation of the processes taking place in the metauniverse.”
The fears of the GRFC are similar to those that ordinary people who are not familiar with technologies about computer games and Internet services have been expressing for decades about computer games and Internet services, Yaroslav Shchitsle, head of IT & IP Dispute Resolution at Rustam Kurmaev and Partners, believes: “The Metaverse is the next step in the development of online games and educational services, only they are closer to reality. Such a service cannot create a different political system, erasure of personality, moral decay.”
