The metaverse is a persistent and immersive simulated world that can be experienced firsthand by large groups of users who share a sense of simultaneous presence. The metaverse can be a completely virtual environment (virtual metaverse) or it can be in the form of virtual content layers overlaid on the real world (augmented metaverse).
The metaverse carries the potential to accommodate new and complex legal issues along with many technological possibilities. The increasing practical use of the metaverse and technological developments will bring legal challenges. Since the metaverse contains interconnected virtual spaces, there will be issues to be resolved, especially regarding jurisdiction, property, and conflict of laws. In addition to these, it can be stated that there will be issues regarding competition law, data and customer privacy, intellectual property rights, real estate law, and compliance with financial legislation.
A. Data Privacy and Security
Since there will be a lot of cross-platform interaction in the metaverse, data protection will be an important issue when users transfer data from one application to another. In contracts to be made regarding data transfers, platform owners will need to pay attention to the responsibility of ensuring the necessary information security standards and ensuring compliance with data protection legislation. Of course, at this point, the determination of the competent court in legal issues related to the transfer of data is also an issue that needs to be resolved. For example, at this point, one of the courts in the user’s residence, the place where the avatar is located, or the place where the relevant servers are located may have jurisdiction.
B. Protection of Personal Data
Just as internet use has become inevitable today, it is out of the question to think of not entering the metaverse environment at all. Because such an approach will mean that users will be kept away from critical information worldwide. In the metaverse environment, platform providers collect a lot of personal data of users, and moreover in real time. Although there are various regulations regarding the protection of personal data, there will be a need for legal regulations in the metaverse area. These regulations should include allowing platform providers, who can monitor everything users see, touch, and say in the metaverse environment in real time, to store this information for a certain period of time. Thus, platform providers will be prevented from profiling users to some extent.
C. Exposure to Advertising Content
In the Metaverse, users can track not only where they click, but also where they go, what they do, what they look at, and where they linger. By tracking users’ real-time walks, it is also possible to track when they slow down to buy a product or service or speed up to pass certain places. On immersive platforms, it is possible to track facial expressions, voice changes, and visual cues and use them to analyze a person’s real-time emotional state. In this respect, it becomes possible for platform providers to profile users. Another risk is that advertising companies or other third parties may use this data to manipulate consumers’ needs and desires. The proposed solution to this problem is to at least regulate in a legal regulation that platform owners must provide users with information about product placements in virtual and augmented reality environments.
D. Encountering Harmful Content in the Online Environment
Thanks to augmented reality and virtual reality in the Metaverse environment, users may be subject to verbal harassment, sexual harassment-like behaviors or attacks by other avatars. Users may be exposed to pornographic content modeled on avatars and disinformation produced using augmented reality. The fact that women were sexually harassed on Meta Company’s augmented reality social media platform can be given as an example here. Although this situation occurred in the virtual world, the feeling it created on the person in question is a real effect. It can be predicted that the effect of harmful content will be greater, especially when the possibility of children being in the metaverse environment is considered. At this point, as a technical solution proposal, it can be considered to work on the creation of secure metaverse platforms, to make it mandatory for avatars to stay physically away from other avatars if the user wishes, or to consider accepting this situation as the default setting.
E. Competition Law
Although there is no obstacle for businesses to create standards together in terms of competition law, creating standards