UAE authorities called for the creation of international safety standards in the metaverse

The AI minister believes that users’ psyches can be harmed by crimes in the virtual space, such as “murdering” an avatar

27.05.2022 - 14:10

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What’s new? UAE Minister for Artificial Intelligence Omar Sultan Al Olama has said that international safety standards should be created to prevent virtual crimes in the metaverses. According to him, the realism of metaverses can allow “people to be terrorized in ways that aren’t currently possible.” He believes that virtual crimes such as “murdering” an avatar can harm the psyche of users, CNBC reports.

Information on the CNBC website

What else did the minister say? Al Olama called on the International Telecommunication Union and the UN’s specialized agency for information and communication technologies to discuss the development and establishment of international rules and standards in the virtual space that should be respected by people regardless of where they live. He added:

“If I send you a text on WhatsApp, it’s text, right? It might terrorize you but to a certain degree, it will not create the memories that you will have post-traumatic stress disorder from it. But if I come into the metaverse and I actually murder you, and you see it ... it actually takes you to a certain extreme.”

What events happened before? On February 5, US residents Ryan and Candice Hurley held a wedding ceremony in the Decentraland metaverse. It was the first wedding to take place in blockchain-based virtual reality. A marriage license was issued in an NFT format.

On March 24, Metaverse Fashion Week, organized by Decentraland and NFT marketplace UNXD, took place. Famous brands participating in the virtual fashion event included Paco Rabanne, Dolce & Gabbana, Tommy Hilfiger, Cavalli, Nicholas Kirkwood, Elie Saab, and Imitation of Christ.

At the end of March, Re-State Foundation, a Swiss non-profit foundation, announced the launch of the world’s first virtual university in the metaverse, Metametaverse. In addition to educational resources, the MetaUniversity would unite and provide space for all educational institutions that exist in Web 3.0.

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