As the internet has revolutionized our way of life in the last 30 years, the metaverse is poised to shape our future by seamlessly connecting our digital and physical worlds. The metaverse is virtual film and fashion, VR workrooms, new online communities and more. But these new spaces, if left unchecked, could amplify existing crises around racial inequity, digital privacy and threats to American democracy. Election misinformation remains a huge issue online, and decentralized metaverse communities make it easier to spread. As the Jan. 6 hearings remind us, another attempted insurrection is possible if we don’t lay careful foundations to prevent it.
Now, while the metaverse is still in its infancy, it is critical to protect our civil and human rights in these new digital spaces.
Anyone who has lived through the pandemic has likely experienced metaverse technologies — whether that’s through virtual backgrounds or makeup filters during Zoom meetings, avatars on social media or VR for guided workouts or gaming. The next phase of the metaverse and a decentralized Web3 internet will take us further, as we’ve seen through the rise in NFT art, virtual sneakers linked to physical pairs and token-gated shopping for special perks and products.