Abstract
When the Metaverse began becoming trendy in October 2021, with the renaming of Facebook to Meta, it did not take long for the downsides of such a technology to make themselves obvious. Bad online behaviour is practically synonymous with the internet, and the Metaverse, being an extension of the internet, is no exception. This chapter looks at how criminal law might currently be applied to bad behaviour in the Metaverse, and goes on to discuss we should think about the use of criminal law to regulate harms in digital spaces.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
ASEAN Digital Senior Officials’ Meeting. (2010). ASEAN Model Contractual clause for cross border data flows. https://asean.org/wp-content/uploads/3-ASEAN-Model-Contractual-Clauses-for-Cross-Border-Data-Flows_Final.pdf. Accessed 15th August 2023.
Ashworth, A. (2010). Sentencing and criminal justice (5th ed.). Cambridge University Press. Chapter 3.
BBC (2021, February 25). Facebook and google news law passed in Australia. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-56163550. Accessed 26th July 2023.
Brownlie, I. (2003). Principles of public international law. Sixth Edition. Oxford University Press. Chapter 15.5.
CBC. (2023, July 21). Your questions about Meta and other social media giants blocking news in Canada, explained. https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/meta-instagram-canada-online-news-act-explainer-news-1.6914154. Accessed 26th July 2023.
Chesterman, S. (2021). We, the Robots? Cambridge University Press.
Clarke, L. (2022, May 14). Can we create a moral metaverse? The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/may/14/can-we-create-a-moral-metaverse. Accessed 26th July 2023.
Copeland, B. J. (2023, June 19). Alan Turing. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alan-Turing. Accessed 26th July 2023.
Epic. (2023). Fortnite end user license agreement. https://www.fortnite.com/eula. Accessed 26th July 2023.
Facebook. (2023). Terms of service. https://www.facebook.com/terms.php/. Accessed 26th July 2023.
Feinberg, J. (1985). Offense to others: The moral limits of the criminal law. Oxford University Press.
Frenkel, S. & Browning, K. (2021, December 30). The Metaverse’s dark side: Here come harassment and assaults. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/30/technology/metaverse-harassment-assaults.html. Accessed 26th July 2023.
Hart, H. L. A. (2012). The concept of law. Third Edition. Oxford University Press. Chapter II.2.
Lee, J. (2012). The past, present and future of the internal security act. Singapore Management University School of Law Opinion Series. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2075475. Accessed 26th July 2023.
Livingston, C. (2017, January 31). Conan Exiles has an ‘endowment’ slider and genital physics. PC Gamer. https://www.pcgamer.com/conan-exiles-dick-slider/. Accessed 26th July 2023.
Luban, D., O’Sullivan, J. R., & Stuart, D. P. (2010). International and transnational criminal law (pp. 210–211). Aspen Publishers.
Mill, J. S. (2015). On liberty. New Edition. Oxford University Press. On Liberty.
Muvija, M. (203, May 3) UK government sets out anti-fraud strategy to tackle scammers. Reuters. https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-government-sets-out-anti-fraud-strategy-tackle-scammers-2023-05-02/. Accessed 26th July 2023.
POFMA Office. (2023). Media centre. https://www.pofmaoffice.gov.sg/media-centre/. Accessed 26th July 2023.
Shanmugam, K. (2014, March 13). Second reading speech by Minister for Law, K Shanmugam, on the Protection from Harassment Bill. Ministry of Law. https://www.mlaw.gov.sg/news/parliamentary-speeches/2r-by-minister-on-protection-from-harassment-act/. Accessed 26th July 2023.
Shanmugam, K. (May 7, 2019). Second reading speech by Minister for Law, K Shanmugam on the Protection from Online Falsehoods and Manipulation Bill. Ministry of Law. https://www.mlaw.gov.sg/news/parliamentary-speeches/second-reading-speech-by-minister-for-law-k-shanmugam-on-the-protection-from-online-falsehoods-and-manipulation-bill/. Accessed 26th July 2023.
Shanmugam, K. (2022, November 28). Second reading of the penal code (Amendment) Bill—Speech by Mr K Shanmugam, Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for Law. Ministry of Home Affairs. https://www.mha.gov.sg/mediaroom/parliamentary/second-reading-of-penal-code-amendment-bill/. Accessed 26th July 2023.
Singapore Police Force (2023, February 8). Annual Scams and Cybercrime Brief 2022. Singapore Police Force Media Room Statistics. https://www.police.gov.sg/media-room/statistics. Accessed 26th July 2023.
Sum of Us (2022, May). Metaverse: another cesspool of toxic content. https://www.eko.org/images/Metaverse_report_May_2022.pdf. Accessed 26th July 2023.
Tan, C. H. (2022). Panel discussions: Re-viewing the law of the metaverse. TechLaw.Fest 2022. https://techlawfest.com/2022/img/TLF_Programme%20eBooklet_19Jul.pdf. Accessed 26th July 2023.
Tassi, P. (2023, January 6). The Next ‘Fortnite’ Concert May Be The Kid LAROI, coming later this month. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2023/01/06/the-next-fortnite-concert-may-be-the-kid-laroi-coming-later-this-month/?sh=1c2e6a3f44db. Accessed 26th July 2023.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Woon, A.J. (2024). Criminal Law in the Metaverse: Defining Wrongdoing in a Virtual World. In: Chen, HY., Jenweeranon, P., Alam, N. (eds) Global Perspectives in the Metaverse. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-54802-4_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-54802-4_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-54801-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-54802-4
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)