Metaverse Police Can Now Monitor You in the Virtual Worlds

In Brief

• Lieutenant Colonel Mohammed Abdullah Abu Shehab said that the force participated in the Dubai Metaverse Forum to benefit from metaverse technology in the police field.
• Earlier, a 30-year-old South Korean man was sentenced to 4 years in prison for sexually assaulting children in the metaverse.
• A woman’s digital avatar was gang-raped in the metaverse.

Ajman Police becomes the first police agency to provide its services through metaverse technology. How can metaverse police arrest you?

The official Twitter account of the Ajman police announced that they will now provide their services to customers through metaverse technology.

The UAE has welcomed the Web3 adoptions with open arms. The latest positive move towards Web3 adoption comes after the Gitex Technology Week, where government bodies showcased the latest technological innovations and services. Previously, the Ajman Police also participated in the Dubai Metaverse Forum.

Police the metaverse: Is there a need?
As the metaverse grows in adoption, it will surely attract bad actors. No one would have thought about cyber crimes in their wildest imaginations a couple of decades ago, but there are government bodies to keep cyber crimes in check now. Similarly, there is a need to police metaverse to protect users’ rights by keeping crimes in check.

Jamilia Grier, the Founder, and CEO of a legal and business consulting firm, believes that “It’s inevitable that some users will take advantage of others and that crimes will be committed, and sadly, we can already see some of those happening now. Just as we have laws to address crimes in the physical world, it’s also important to have laws in place to deal with crimes committed in the metaverse,”

Crimes in metaverse
Metaverse is yet to become mainstream, but already there are reports of crime committed in the metaverse. A 30-year-old South Korean man sexually assaulted children by assuming fake identities in a popular metaverse. He pretended to be a peer using a childish avatar, engaging with kids, sending them presents, and luring them into sending photos and videos without clothes. He was sentenced to a 4-year in prison and 80-hour treatment in a medical facility.

Earlier in Dec 2021, a woman shared through a medium article that she was sexually harassed and her avatar was gang raped in the metaverse.

“Within 60 seconds of joining — I was verbally and sexually harassed — 3–4 male avatars, with male voices, essentially, but virtually gang raped my avatar and took photos,” the woman claimed. Harassers made abusive remarks as the woman tried to get away.

Various instances of bullying, racial slurs, and other forms of digital hate are reported in the metaverse. Various government anti-crime bodies might soon start following in the footsteps of Ajman Police to make sure users behave in a civilized manner in the metaverse.

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