Since 2021, the technology application and industrial investment around the meta universe have increasingly become the focus of social attention. Microsoft, NVIDIA, Facebook and other foreign technology enterprises have launched the layout of meta universe ecology related technology products. Yuancosmos topic has become a new hot spot in the development of digital economy and the forefront of digital government application. The meta universe has changed from a sci-fi concept to a real application, which will form a virtual world that maps and interacts with the real world. At the same time, some criminals will also take the opportunity to use, bind, or even make up the concept of "meta universe" to engage in illegal and criminal activities. Therefore, we need to correctly understand the development of the meta universe, carefully study and judge the various risks it brings, and arrange the governance plan in advance.
Accurate understanding of the meta universe
Metauniverse is an audio-visual enhanced version of cyberspace and an upgraded version of the evolution of the digital world from two-dimensional to three-dimensional. In the virtual world of the meta universe, users can produce, use and trade items that are difficult to obtain or even not available offline, and can enjoy experiences that are difficult or impossible to enjoy offline, which may promote the generation of a new social structure and social order.
The meta universe operated by Internet enterprises can become an autonomous network society separated from the traditional countries in the real world. Compared with the existing networks, metauniverse has made new breakthroughs in interaction mode, content production, property right identification and interaction, and can realize an independent economic system, social system and identity system. Each user is immersed in the meta universe, producing and editing content, and experiencing work and life. In the long run, it may "decouple" from the real world and become a "citizen" of the meta universe.
Metauniverse has not yet brought completely independent new technologies. At present, it still depends on the convergence and integration of many existing technologies, such as big data, cloud computing, blockchain, virtual reality, augmented reality, digital twins and so on. On the one hand, driven by scenario application, different technologies are likely to change from quantitative change to qualitative change in the process of combination and integration, promoting new technological changes. On the other hand, the self owned risks of various technologies will also be superimposed, giving birth to new risks.
Possible risks in the development of metauniverse
The virtual world of metauniverse not only runs parallel to the real world, but also provides users with twin images and immersive experience similar to the real world. There will be not only new problems of technology integration and order reconstruction, but also old problems in the real world. During the development of metauniverse, if the governance measures are not in place, the following risks may occur:
The risk of overhead sovereignty and authority and endangering the security of network data. The rules of the meta universe platform cross the physical state boundary offline, actually affect users in many countries, and may overhead the authority of the state and government. In addition, in the meta universe ecology, the invasion of citizens' personal information and hacker attacks in general cyberspace may still occur. Considering the richer production and life scenes of the meta universe and the digitization of the whole process of the user's activity track, the emergencies related to destructive events may be stronger, more widespread and more harmful. The transnational operation characteristics of yuancosmos itself will also bring frequent user data exit security problems. With NFT (non homogenous token), virtual currency and other new digital properties have more extensive investment and trading space, it is easy to provide channels for new forms of illegal and criminal activities such as money laundering, gambling, fraud and pyramid schemes.
Risks endangering users' physical and mental health and social order. The application of yuanuniverse is inseparable from various intelligent wearable devices. Long-term device wearing and interface access will cause physical and mental harm to users. We need to pay attention to the adverse consequences such as minors' digital addiction. Further, in the meta universe ecology, the social, intelligent, personalized and fragmented trend of content production is more significant, and the difficulty of order management increases. On the other hand, the discourse system and value orientation of the specific application of the meta universe are still affected by the community rules, business models and algorithms formulated by the platform operators and the behavior patterns of early users. There is a risk of cognitive solidification, "information cocoon room", "echo room effect" and "filter bubbles" developing to a deeper level.
Risks of infringing on personal rights and interests and affecting ecological and energy security. Compared with the existing network platform, the meta universe ecology is easier to form a closed loop, and the interconnection between different meta universes is more difficult. The rights and interests of workers, consumers and operators in the yuan universe ecology may be infringed. Speculation and speculation with the help of the concept of meta universe will also disrupt the normal economic order. Metauniverse needs a lot of computing resources, with large energy consumption and carbon emissions. If it is allowed to develop blindly and disorderly, it will also have an adverse impact on high-quality economic and social development and energy conservation and emission reduction.
Promote the development of meta universe norms
As an emerging business form, yuancosmos contains the vigorous vitality of technological innovation and the rich potential of application innovation, which will also have a potential great impact and impact on the economy and society. Therefore, we should not only recognize that metauniverse is a new competitive field with potential strategic significance, but also take measures in advance against possible security risks to strictly prevent all kinds of "grey rhinoceros" and "black swan" events.
First, strengthen governance according to law, risk management and comprehensive management. By clarifying and refining the extended application of laws in the field of network governance such as network security law, data security law and personal information protection law, we can draw a red line and point out the direction for the development of the meta universe. Deeply, dynamically and comprehensively evaluate the specific risks of metauniverse in the main application scenarios, investigate the development and trends of metauniverse related industries, study, formulate and reserve targeted, inclusive and forward-looking laws and policies, and strive to master the rule-making power and international discourse leadership of the future metauniverse technology competition field. Strengthen technological governance and promote compliance technology and regulatory technology that adapt to the development of the meta universe.
Second, strengthen overall planning and coordination, establish leading departments, form a cross sectoral coordination mechanism, and actively deal with cross industry, cross regional and cross-border issues of meta universe governance, so as to ensure the stability of relevant industrial chains and supply chains. At the stage when the development mode and path are not mature and the international competitive advantage has not been established, pay attention to the spillover impact of regulatory measures, carefully introduce policies with contraction effect while resolutely cracking down on illegal and criminal acts, and focus on making full use of flexible regulatory means such as filing, publicity and publishing best practices. Ensure the correct development direction of the innovation chain by issuing policy guidelines; Do a good job in risk warning and law popularization education, educate and guide the masses to improve their self-discipline awareness of dealing with the addiction of the meta universe and their judgment ability to identify fraud in the name of meta universe speculation.
Third, grasp the general trend and play chess first. Make full use of global resources, lay out key links with high certainty in advance, and increase the layout of chip, GPU and other key technologies. Deploy a green energy system for the meta universe in advance and speed up the construction of relevant facilities and capabilities. Insist on doing something and not doing something, focus on the beneficial fields represented by commerce, tourism, culture, education and elderly care, and actively implement the application scenarios of virtual reality and augmented reality. Let the culture live through the application of meta universe, and promote the deep integration and development of real economy and digital economy.