Metaverses are immersive environments where users can interact with each other, participate in experiences, and create and trade digital assets.
Metaverses are still highly unregulated and this is an emerging technology. Nevertheless, metaverses hold the promise of reshaping how we work, socialize, entertain ourselves and even conduct commerce.
Metaverses often strive to replicate the real word in the digital landscape and can include augmented reality, mixed reality, diminished reality and virtual reality.
example By putting on a virtual reality headset you can be transported to a digital world and interact with other users while playing games or holding virtual meetings.
example Diminished reality promises to help reduce anxiety when travelling by removing the sights and sounds of big crowds through technology.
Metaverses & Human rights
Metaverses can provide a new platform for freedom of expression. They allow users to create and share content, express their identities, and engage in social and political discourse.
However, metaverses rely on the collection and processing of vast amounts of data, raising serious concerns about privacy violations and the potential for misuse of information.
example Often headsets used to access virtual reality are equipped with sensors and cameras to track your environment and can identify objects in your home.
With no concrete rules in place, the decentralized nature of metaverses raises questions about jurisdiction and governance. Determining who is responsible for enforcing rules and protecting human rights in these virtual worlds is a significant challenge. This includes questions of representation of real people in these worlds (avatars) and how they act.
example It is still unclear whether you could be held responsible to a degree for a violation of the principle of non-discrimination if your avatar harassed someone in the metaverse while you were offline and you were not directly in control of your avatar.
About this section
You can read further to explore how you can complain if you have faced a violation of your rights in relation to the metaverse.