As the technology improves every day, the lines between the real world and the metaverse are likely to get blurred and the existing laws are not adequate to regulate life in the metaverse.
As the Metaverse continues to gain traction every day among netizens world over, India needs to review to what level it is comfortable with its citizens immersing their lives in this online platform. Ramifications are wide and scary for the whole world although the concept has many good things to offer.
The metaverse is the next-generation version of the internet, rendered by virtual or augmented reality technology. To put it simply, the metaverse is a virtual world where people/users can socialize, work and as technology progresses, do pretty much anything similar to what they do in the real world.
The term ‘metaverse’ was first coined in Neal Stephenson’s 1992 science fiction novel Snow Crash, and the concept was further explored by Ernest Cline in his novel Ready Player One.But now, Facebook and many other tech companies want to make it a reality.
Metaverse seems poised to emerge as Earth 2.0 (a parallel existence to the one we lead on the earth), allowing its users to create their Avatars and to immerse themselves into this new world of virtual reality. It could potentially be a replacement for life on earth – different from existing game platforms, such as ‘Second Life’, that provide an escape from our real world.
Various tech giants have different platforms for users to access the metaverse. For example, Facebook (now known as ‘Meta’) has launched Horizon Worlds, its virtual reality world of Avatars. Other major platforms are ‘The Sandbox’, ‘Decentraland’, ‘Cryptovoxels’ and ‘Somnium’.
Lines Are BlurreD
As a curious lawyer who happens to revere new technology, I am in a predicament with this development as the endless legal complications that are likely to emerge frighten me. As the technology improves every day, the lines between the real world and the metaverse are likely to get blurred and the existing laws are not adequate to regulate life in the metaverse.
A Tamil couple Dinesh SP, a project associate with IIT Madras, and Janaganandhini Ramaswamy got married on 6 February – and hosted their Harry Potter-themed reception on metaverse – first such in Asia. So far so good.
But the incidents of rape and sexual assault of an Avatar and other crimes have started taking place in the metaverse. A British woman (43) has alleged that she was verbally and sexually harassed in Facebook’s metaverse. She said that within 60 seconds of her joining the virtual world, three or four menAvatars “virtually gang raped” her Avatar and took photos of the same.
The biggest worry is that there are no laws to govern and adjudicate such offences of raping an Avatar, simply because there is no legal personality that is attributed to an Avatar. There is no legal framework outlining the rights and duties of the Avatars.
It is also not correct to say that the actions of the Avatars in the metaverse have no effect on the lives of the user in the physical world. Users in the metaverse can wear haptic vests or other technological tools which would actually allow them to feel sensations if they were touched or groped.
Investment In Metaverse
Users in the Metaverse have already begun ‘investing’ in digital real estate in the Metaverse. Which country’s laws will apply to an Avatar’s transactions? Jurisdiction will be the first major hurdle that we will need to cross.
The same issue will come up in every other action, civil or criminal that an Avatar undertakes. Let us take an example of an Indian operating from India whose Avatar gets raped by another user’s Avatar in Country X and the rapist Avatar’s user is physically operating from the United States. In this situation, which country’s courts will have jurisdiction? Which country’s laws will apply? Moreover, if the Avatars have been assigned a legal personality, will the physical courts have jurisdiction or will there be a need to establish another judiciary in the metaverse to adjudicate on the rights and duties of the Avatars?
These are some of the questions that India and every sovereign government will need to consider. It’s just not a gaming platform. If the Avatars can do just about anything as they can do in the real world, there will need to be laws in place. But who will draft these laws? Will there be a cyberspace parliament or a dictator that governs the lives of these Avatars that have already begun operating/working as people do in the real world.
Fear of alternate/parallel Governments in the Metaverse
Governing and exercising control over the Avatars in my opinion will tantamount to having indirect control on the users in the real world and this poses a serious threat to any government in the real world. If, in the future, there is a distinct leader/government in the metaverse governing the lives of Avatars, this leader’s/government’s decision will directly and indirectly challenge the authority of the government(s) in the real world.
India, home to the biggest user base of tech giants like Facebook (Now Meta), WhatsApp, Twitter and many other social media platforms, needs to be careful with regard the extent to which it wants the Metaverse to be available to its citizens.
Not Everything Is Bad With The Metaverse Concept
But the interesting thing to take note of here is that as a concept, the ‘Metaverse’ is not all bad. In the right hands and with the right approach, a concept like the Metaverse can be a great tool that can boost productivity and administration in the country. In fact, it would be great if India were to create its own Metaverse. This would give a fillip to the Indian IT sector and would also give Indian tech start-ups independent control of the new world without being routed to it through Google, Apple and Facebook who have become the major gate keepers to the internet.
There have been many specific incidents where the European Union has held Google to be abusing its dominant position and hampering many domestic businesses. In the wake of these decisions, the Competition Commission of India is investigating similar issues concerning Google’s anti-competitive practices.
Having its own metaverse, India can be its own gatekeeper to this new form of cyberspace and not be affected by the influence of large corporate tech giants.
As far as administration is concerned, the virtual augmented reality technology can be used to create a virtual communication ecosystem for all areas of its municipal administration. Imagine that a metaverse has been created by Indians and people in Delhi can access the Metaverse by putting on their VR headsets and meet government/municipality officials for virtual meetings. This would save so much time and money and provide a way for people to sit at home and do those things which they are only able to do in the real world.
Seoul First City To Enter Metaverse
Seoul, in South Korea, was the first city to announce its entry to the Metaverse. Provisionally called ‘Metaverse Seoul’, it intends to create a virtual communication ecosystem for all areas of its municipal administration – relating to art, culture, education, tourism, science, etc.
A practical example of the Metaverse that comes to mind is for the Indian judiciary. Presently, the Indian judiciary uses foreign platform like CISCO Webex which are only video conferencing platforms. While such technology has been a boon for our country in the pandemic, it has its limitations in areas such as cross examination of a witness.
Another limitation is that it reduces law violators’ fear of judges since the judges are only seen on screen. A virtual court using the advanced Metaverse technology can help overcome these shortcomings since the experience would be similar to in the real world.
Education is another area that can benefit from the concept of the Metaverse. Distance learning can be redefined in the Metaverse allowing students to interact with faculty and other students in the Metaverse.
On a lighter note, through this article, I strongly recommend and advise young independent lawyers of our country to take advantage of their familiarity with technology and work towards acquiring legal work in this space. The Metaverse is still at its nascent stage and the way things are going, endless legal issues are bound to crop up in the Metaverse.
Author Shaan Mohan is an advocate practising in the Delhi High Courts and trial courts. He actively takes up social welfare issues. The DHC has appointed him as an Amicus Curie many times. For any queries reach out to the author at shaanmohan01@gmail.com