Given that the Metaverse spans multiple jurisdictions, dimensions, and organisations, a holistic approach involving multi-stakeholder engagements and cross-border collaboration would be pivotal for an effective law enforcement response to Metacrime, the Interpol has said in a white paper on the issue.
The paper deals with various aspects of the Metaverse from a law enforcement perspective, based on the inputs from the Interpol Metaverse Expert Group set up in October 2022. It highlights the steps necessary to address the challenges in the areas of governance, judiciary, and law enforcement.
“Metaverse” is a three-dimensional virtual space developed using technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Blockchain. “According to the Gartner, 25% of people will spend at least an hour every day in the Metaverse in 2026... an estimation was announced in a report that the Metaverse might generate the commercial opportunity as high as $13 trillion by 2030,” said the report.
Even as the Metaverse is still in its infancy, in view of the fast-emerging technologies, the paper analyses its potential benefits, threats, and challenges in order to enable effective law enforcement.
According to the paper, the Metaverse can revolutionise the way law enforcement officials are trained, as it can facilitate repetitive practice without the associated real-world costs or risks. It makes possible virtual meetings, operational coordination, and providing support in frontline policing. The Metaverse can be leveraged to create virtual replicas of crime scenes, allowing preservation of physical evidence and better analysis. Judicial officers can use it to virtually survey crime scenes for a better understanding of any case.
“Contingency planning using the Metaverse can help ensure public safety and security, protect critical infrastructure, and facilitate disaster response... police team rehearsals and simulations can aid in the development of coordinated response plans, allowing multiple agencies to train together and develop interoperability...,” said the paper.
“Drone technology combined with VR headsets can enable police officers to make better decisions in dangerous and urgent situations. By displaying real-time data directly from the drone’s flight to the commander’s VR sets, operational efficiency can be greatly improved,” it said.
The report suggests that the police can also establish a virtual presence in the Metaverse, offering services such as reporting crimes, filing complaints, or even hosting virtual community meetings, making its services more accessible and interactive.
It discusses various types of existing and potential criminal activities in the Metaverse. They include Intellectual Property crime; acts intended to cause fear or emotional distress; crimes against public safety; identity crime; crimes against children; cybercrime; terrorism; financial crime; property crime like robbery or theft of virtual assets; and deepfakes involving impersonation or disinformation campaigns; violation of privacy, etc.
“...some law enforcement agencies in the member countries have already received reports of crimes featuring the Metaverse, particularly related to financial crime. With its growing popularity, the list of crimes will only expand and challenge the police services to address these emerging criminal activities...in this context, it is essential for law enforcement to anticipate the challenges that may arise by listing various potential threats and identifying the gap areas including those in the legal frameworks to criminalise them,” said the report.
Criminalising nefarious activities in the Metaverse would require legislative measures. “This entails the establishment of clear definitions, as not all future crimes in the Metaverse fit the definitions of traditional offences. For instance, offences involving hybrid (physical-virtual) interactions might require new or revised definitions...,” it pointed out.
As per the report, with its increasing use, the Metaverse will emerge as a key source of data and evidence for investigators. “Therefore, law enforcement should be prepared to access data from VR headsets and haptic devices; recover evidence from the Metaverse infrastructure; acquire data from the third party Metaverse service providers; and train first responders, forensic specialists, and the entire criminal justice system,” it said.
On jurisdictional issues, the report opined that given the global nature of the Metaverse, crimes committed within it might involve participants from multiple countries. This could complicate investigations, particularly when AI technologies are involved, owing to the differences in laws and regulations on AI and cybercrime.]
Other major challenges include technological and infrastructural requirements; data privacy and ethical concerns; and cybersecurity threats.
